


Sunrise Over an Apple Orchard

by BleachCakes



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: 3rd person, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Yagami Light Is Not Kira (Death Note), Amane Misa & Yagami light - Freeform, Amane Misa Deserves Better, Amane Misa is the main character, Amane Misa-centric, Amane Misa/Yagami Light - Freeform, Amane Misa’s the main character, Apples, Canon Divergence, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Death Note Spoilers, F/F, Fanservice, Freeform, Gen, Gender or Sex Swap, L & Amane Misa - Freeform, L & Yagami Light - Freeform, L (Death note) - Freeform, L Lawliet & Amane Misa, L lawliet & Yagami Light, LGBTQ Character, Lesbian, Lesbian Character, Main character - Freeform, Major Character(s), Major Spoilers, Misa amane is Kira, My First Work in This Fandom, One-Sided Amane Misa/Yagami Light, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, POV Amane Misa, POV Female Character, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Omniscient, Rainbow stickers, Ryuk likes apples, Shinigami, Shinigami Eyes, Shitposting in the tags, Side Character - Freeform, Smart Amane Misa, Spoilers, Will I actually finish this?, Work In Progress, Yagami Light - Freeform, Yagami Light is Kira, Yagami light is a side character, Yes Mina and Light will be unofficial girlfriends, amane Misa is the new Yagami light, amane misa - Freeform, fight me, free form, genderbent, litterally just me crushing on Misa, main and side character swap, misa is bae, running out of ideas, who knows!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27769108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleachCakes/pseuds/BleachCakes
Summary: Light Yagami had originally asked to Ryuk, if I don’t do it, who will? Well Misa Amane of course! Who’s asking the same question in this complete series rewrite. Here Misa and Light swap places while still sticking to the original storyline.Is this fan service for myself? Oh certainly.Notable changes:*Some episodes or scenes will we skipped either for uncomfortablity of writing the scenes/episodes or to cut down on expository info.*L and Light will both be female, this is so certain story aspects still work, and just more girls for my lesbian heart*Misa and Light will be somewhat out of character, so Misa will have lights cunning and light may be a lil ditzy sometimes*Lights Death Note will be covered in rainbow stickers because I thought it would be cuteThis is literally the entire anime, so obviously major spoilers.Title may change later, I’m positing this at 9pm and I can’t think for shit right nowIf anyone wants to repost the story to another site either DM/Note me on Deviantart @foxyfame123, or just comment and we can work something outHope y’all enjoy this mess :>
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	1. Rebirth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shinigami realm scenes are skipped to cut some expository info  
> *Scene where The Death Note is used to kill the motorcycle dude it’s skipped due to the nature of what happens in the scene  
> *If you notice any spelling or grammar errors tell me and I’ll fix it

  
“Listen for the voice of God then follow it.”

The school day was on its lesson of the evening and sleepy sunlight filtered in through the dusty windows, casting honey-gold light on smooth and glossy wooden floors and over cracked and word engraved desks that were all so neatly ordered into perfectly straight rows and columns. The front of the classroom at the green board where the teacher stood and taught his lessons was just as empty of life as the rest of the room. Dusty chalk smears where the rectangular foam eraser hadn't quite managed to clean the board of previous lessons, instead just new words written over top for the next class lesson. 

  1. Examine(v)-examination(n), normal students in the classroom 
  2. Normal(a)-normalization(n)
  3. Necessary(a)-Necessary(n)
  4. History(a)-historian(n).



The classroom was quietly buzzing with petty pleasure that showed how uncommitted all the students really were to their studies. Two girls spoke their latest gossip to each other, “I know, I didn't even do anything wrong! He just totally snapped at me!” Her friend leaning back in her chair to speak back, “Really? So what did you say?” Or another boy who’s backpack he had brought up to his chest so that he may rest his arms while playing on a dirty white DS, colorful pixels jumping back and forth across the screen with no real aim, direction, or goal in their minds. Just like all the kids here, thoughtless and only getting by on the bare minimum passable grades, they know not what they wish to do in the future.

All this the student mused while tugging gently at one of her, sitting on her perfect chair pushed into her perfect desk in her perfect row and column on another regular day. I, on the other hand, she thought to herself with a gentle smirk, know exactly where I'm going. Her eyes never moved from a slightly downcast gaze onto her books and papers but she could see all or at least all of what she thought was all. 

“And know,” The professor continued, “That in time, you will find your salvation.” Somehow the day's English lesson had turned into a religious study it seemed. “Amane, are you still with us?” Misa Amane startled slightly, taking her head from her hand to look up at the man, his small square glasses catching some of the dim light before it moved away again and he was left in the shadow cast by the second half of the school building across the courtyard. Seeing I had acknowledged him, he looked down in his small red book before meeting my eyes again for a question. “Can you please translate the following sentence into English?” Misa looked down to see which part they were on and blinked slowly before pushing back her chair to stand up. It was all too easy for one of the top honor students of the school. 

Her hands perfectly straight at her sides like the perfectly respectful student she was and everyone knew her as. Misa spoke and the students who weren't preoccupied with sharing gossip or showing off superhero comics turned to look at her with bored acknowledgment. “Follow the teachings of God and receive his blessings And so it shall be that the seas will again become bountiful and the raging storm will subside,” perfect pronunciation, perfect accent.

Perfect student. 

But as perfect as Misa knew she was, the world was not. Every afternoon when she walked home along the streets of the city to her home she was greeted by large screens projecting the latest criminals and their heinous deeds against all the citizens of Japan.

“In other news,” The newscaster spoke through the large digital pixelated video projectors that cast a faint glow in the afternoon light, “Today, suspected murderer Naoki Tokuji was arrested in the district of Shibuya Tokyo. He is being held in custody facing murder charges for the brutal slaying of his common-law partner, who was only 25 at the time of her death.” Misa stared up at the broadcasted picture of the criminal while she waited at the walkway with other citizens, she could see it in his eyes, ringed with dark circles, and sneer of cracked yellow teeth, she could see all the dirt of the world. Japan, no, the _world_ was filled with disgusting people like him. Those who act without remorse, take without thought, and hurt with no consequence other than a few years in a concrete block that did nothing but let the hate fester in prime habitat surrounded by other roaches that feed each other their own lies of misery. 

Looking back down as the light lit up, she and all the others at the stop shuffled across the street walkway, holding tight to her black bag she had adorned with small keychains of red hearts and silver skulls. By becoming a detective and policeman like her father she hoped to help clean up this world, but that was still a few years off, and it's not like she would have free reign to catch the fleas, there would be strict rules. “The world is so full of rules,” Misa murmured to herself, “So boring…” Sometimes it felt like it would be easier to stomp onto the dingy grey pavement with a pair of her glittery, thick heeled black shoes until the world broke open and swallowed everyone evil in the world down into its fiery depths of hell then it would be to reform the world through regular policeman ship. Tilting her head slightly with closed eyes she scoffed at her thoughts, yeah right, the world was broken but not broken enough to ever let an elimination method like that work.

This world was rotten, but when she graduated from her schooling, she would clean it up.

The whispering of her peers surrounded Misa as she sat at her desk. Another regular day of class had passed on and it was once more the last class of her day. Afterward, she would go home where she would eat dinner then close herself off in her room to study till 6:30 where she would then walk to cram school that would last until 9 pm, then she would walk home again, and go to bed ready for the cycle to rinse and repeat itself. 

Misa sighed, leaning her head onto the smooth plaster wall next to her to look out the window, watching the courtyard a story below her, wisps of blonde hair blowing in her face and tickling her nose with the feathery lightness of a playful kitten batting at her nose. The green grass had long since died and shriveled itself up into a dry, dead, brown color that matched the rest of the grey lifeless world that surrounded Japan in the winter months of late November. The dead grass matches this lesson, Misa mused to herself as the teacher taught about the extinction of animals, “Another notable consequence is the extinction of many species on the planet, species are now becoming extinct at a faster rate than has ever occurred in our recorded history,” Misa tilted her head forward her eyes fluttering closed for just a moment, who cares about a few dead rhinos when hundreds of good people are slaughtered every day by society's evil. 

Misa shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, her whole life her need for justice had invaded itself into everything in her life, even at a young age she could see all the bad. Having her hair pulled on by little gremlin boys and then having to apologize for hitting them in retaliation while they got off for starting it in the first place, or getting a juice box stolen by the other kids and being told that sharing is caring and other petty childhood wrongings had driven her need for punishment to those evildoers, although it didn't hurt that her father was the chief of police. And every day, as her understanding and awareness of the world increased little by little, she saw more and more that was wrong with the world. So lost in her thoughts she almost didn't notice the flittering of movement in the corner of her eye. Turning quickly, somewhat startled from her thoughts, she expected a blackbird streaking across the clouded robin's egg blue sky. Instead, as it made its fall to Earth Misa could see the fluttering of clean white pages and large scratches in words across the top, it wasn't a bird hurtling to its death, it was a notebook gently flowing down like a perfectly positioned omen from the gods. Reversing the descent with her eyes her gaze crawled up the opposite building wondering how someone had gotten onto the roof, but instead of a frantic student leaning over the sides to see their dropped book, there was no one but the wind and tan painted metal heating and cooling units that matched the ugly beige of the school uniforms. 

It was like it had simply dropped from the sky.

The bell had rung ten minutes ago and now Misa was situated directly in front of the book. It had fallen with the grace of a dying dove, none of its pages seemed dented or folded, it was right side up without a speck of dirt upon its shiny and gleaming black leather cover, it was like God had guided it with her own palm. Glancing around momentarily she crouched down and picked it up lightly. Taking a moment to smooth her skirt back down she read over its covers. Eyes widening she read its scratched white words and dropped the book. “A Death Note,” She mumbled, quickly masking her surprise in case anyone was watching, and picked it up again, this time with a more steady grip. “A Death Note… like a notebook of death?” Well of course that's what it means Misa! She scolded herself for stating the obvious, with the apparent out of the way she flicked it open with a perfectly manicured hand, the inside cover was covered in writing but the striped note pages were clean. Bringing the book up closer so she could more easily read the small and scratchy writing, 

“Whoever wrote in this has awful handwriting,” she sniffed, deciphering the letters to be the “rules” of the book. Gracing a finger smoothly over the cover to be brought under the first line she read it to herself, voice trailing off, “No, no that can't be right!” Rereading quickly she only further confirmed what it said, “The human whose name is written in this notebook, shall die… I suppose that does clarify its title then. But, there's no way this is real,” she looked around for a culprit who was waiting to jump out and scream ‘gotcha’, “ What a stupid prank,” she said loudly, though no one else milling in the courtyard appeared to care. She scoffed again, she needed to get home and take off this uncomfortable school uniform and put on some of her regular clothes. 

Walking off she laughed at herself for being so silly, It's really not that different from one of those chain letters you get. A human whose name is written in this notebook shall die? Come on who would ever believe that.” 

Misa hurried through the streets, her bag tucked tight to her chest, “There must be something wrong with me for even considering it, and yet…” You can't fault a curious woman, “And besides, what if it is real, some sicko could get ahold of it and do some bad things to the world.” It was simply safer with me, she convinced herself, a train whistling in the background.

Misa set the notebook down on her desk, and quickly switched out of her school uniform, and pulled on a loose black skirt that bounced jovially with her hurried movements on pulling black tights and a similarly colored shirt. Her mother and father might find her fashion choices strange but you let your daughter dress how she wants when she’s one of the top students in Japan. Misa jumped into the skinny metal office chair, the wheels spinning her around for a second before she scooched back up the desk to plant her hands on either side of the black book. She stared at it for just a minute, like it a challenge of her courage before flicking it open to the first page again. Her hand trailing down the inside cover, feeling the dents where whatever white-inked pen had been used scored into the leather, to where the next rule has been written. 

  1. If the cause of death is written within forty seconds of writing the person's name it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified the person will simply die of a heart attack.
  2. After writing the cause of death details of the death should be written in the next six minutes and 40 seconds.



Misa paused going over the lines once more, “Hmm… so depending on the person you have in mind you can either kill them easily or painfully…” Her lips curled up into a smile, as she used her foot to roll herself back next to her bed, “It's a detailed prank, I'll give them that,” she leaned far over the chair to flop down onto her black sheets, it was an impressive commitment she had to give whoever responsible props for the lengths they went through to get it right. She smiled as she stared up at her ceiling, “All throw it out when I go out tonight,” Misa decided, rolling onto her stomach to reach for her backpack with slender fingers. Might as well get to studying… her reach stalled and she turned her head ever so slightly in thought, looking up to her wooden desk. 

Plucking a pen topped with a cute black kitten's face, a tiny pink plastic tongue sticking out of its white painted smile, Misa hovered her hand above the top of the page. “If someone actually dies then this notebook would make me a murderer wouldn't it?” She shook her head, “Of course not, I'm not like those filthy people who hide in back alleys….” 

The audio broadcasting off her TV drew Misa’s attention to the faintly glowing box that projected a Newscaster standing in front of the crime scene with a mic to his mouth, “The same assailant who attacked six people at a busy shopping district in Shinjuku yesterday has struck again. Taking eight people hostage at this daycare center. His captives include both children and teachers. The black-clad woman sneered, anyone who threatens children in her mind was the worst of the worst who should be punished by hell's hottest fires. “The police have now identified the suspect, as 42-year-old Kuro Otoharada, currently unemployed,” the picture flashed up on the screen, and has much as it hurt her she burned the picture into her mind, tracing every crack in his forehead with her eyes and taking a mental note of the certain way his eyes shaped themselves into a drowsy glare, she needed to follow the rules of the notebook to a tee if she expected something to happen, “We expect negotiations to begin immediately,” The man finished as the picture retreated once more from the screen. 

Then, Misa took her kitty capped pen and pressed it to the page, “Small breath, close your eyes and picture his ugly sneer, then write his name,” she opened her eyes again, hesitation for just a moment, before imprinting his name at the top in elegant and clean cursive handwriting. Putting the pen down she glanced up at her clock just as its letters clicked to 18:23. 

“So if it does as the rules say, then he’ll have a heart attack in 40 seconds then” Misa spun her chair to have a more direct view of the tiny TV. “I guess I’ll see what happens then.”

The newscaster continued his segment, “At the present time that's all the police are telling us.” The video cut back to the original woman, sitting at her desk with her hands neatly folded on the smooth plastic table. “You can't help but feel concerned for the safety of those hostages,” Misa rolled her eyes with a huff, yeah, no shit people are going to be worried. A caption rolled across the screen describing the criminal as the “Shinjuku Phantom Killer.” 

The man spoke again after an uncomfortably long pause that always occurred in between scene switches on the news, “You're absolutely right, we’ll continue to monitor the situation from here.” 

The man cut away again back to the woman. “Thank you for that report, what do you make of this Mr. Hashimoto?” Her voice was soft and calm despite the situation, and Misa emulated it, whispering the words back to herself to see if she could sound just as unreadable. Another uncomfortable pause. 

“Well, we can only hope for a quick resolution to this situation,” Hashimoto responded without much enthusiasm. Misa sighed, dropping her tense shoulders, and lolled her head to the side to look at the notebook, “What a stupid prank….” She murmured, not exactly disappointed per se, but a little sad that it hadn't been real after all. Standing up, she reached over to her lamp, fingers brushing the white frills she had taped to let hang off the black-painted work lamp. The room went dark except for the glowing fuzz of her TV which she went to shut off, picking up the remote gently with long thin fingers.

“Wait! We’re seeing something here!” Misa’s eyes widened with a soft gasp and her grip loosened on the remote, letting it clatter with a muffled thump to the black and white carpet spread over the hardwood floor. “Looks like movement at the front entrance!” She fell back into her office chair, hands gripping the thin, cold, metal armrests so hard her already pale hands turned completely white. The girl could hear her heart beating hard, pulsing so fast she thought it would explode out of her chest and splatter the black and white room red. Watching with rigid attention, the camera switched back to the man at the scene.

“The hostages are coming out, and they all look to be unharmed!” Her eyes were glued to the screen, following each person who flooded out the door. Terrified teachers still wearing smocks of flowers and rainbows were holding onto the hands of crying children, dressed in brightly colored shirts and pants, hurrying them along. Misa grit her teeth, nose wrinkling with anger, look at how scared they were, these innocent children and teachers being attacked by a gun-waving ruffian. 

“Makes me sick…”

“The special forces are moving in! We don't know if the suspect has been arrested yet. Huh? Yes?” The man turned his head in confusion as he listened to an earpiece, “We now have confirmation, the suspect has been found dead inside! I repeat the suspect is now dead!” Misa covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

“He’s dead. He's really dead!” She slapped her hand onto the desk, fingers grasping the corner of the Death Note to pull it towards her, just having to confirm that the writing of the criminal's name was still there. 

“The special forces are denying allegations that they shot the suspect,”

“So It's quite possible he was feeling cornered and decided to commit suicide?”

“Well according to statements from hostages the suspect just suddenly collapsed.”

A heart attack. No… it must be a coincidence, her eyes darted to the book where shiny black ink stared back at her, there's no way this thing actually worked right? 

“Misa! It's already 6:30 you know, don't you have cram school tonight?” Misa startled, jumping out of her chair. She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to slow her breathing and calm her shaky breath. 

“Yeah mom, I'll be ready in just a sec!” She called back, putting a smile into her voice just for her Mom. Her face dropped again as she looked back down at the note. Grabbing her bag she swept the book into the open chasm. “I need to test it out again, just to really see…” Her mind first wandered to high profile criminals she might be able to take out but then she weighed her options again, “If he’s too well known they might cover the death up, and I need results right away. It needs to be someone small and with a public presence.”

Misa’s finger glided across the smooth wood of the desk while watching two boys harass another. 

“Hey Ryo, buddy.” Misa rolled her eyes, yeah, he’s as much your buddy as a cat and a bird. 

“What is it Sudou?” 

“Didn't you want to lend me 20 dollars?”

“What, again? But I can't do that.”

“You can't?”

She witnessed this same scene last week and the week before, _and_ the week before that. She certainly pitied the boy and her finger twitched towards her bag. Sudoku, the world would certainly be better without a hooligan like him, he wouldn't be able to grow up into the petty criminal he most certainly be if he never grew up in the first place. But… I need to avoid killing people I know, they can't be connected to me in any way. Side-eying the boys again she could see where Sudou had snatched the dollar Ryo gave him, waving it around boastfully to his giggling friend who asked to go to the arcade after school. Misa turned back to the front with a frown, If she didn't have common sense she would have certainly executed him by now.

Her mom was already at the door when I got home, holding a broom. “Ah, Misa, what a nice surprise I wasn't expecting you home so early!” Misa looked up as she closed the door with her hip, hand holding onto her backpack strap. 

She smiled, “Yeah, Hi Mom it's because-” The student looked down to see her Mom holding out her hands, the broom now laid against the wall of the stairwell. “Oh, yeah, the results of the nationwide exam.” Of course, that's what she was waiting for, It was no coincidence she was right at the door, was it? 

“I've been waiting all day,” her face lit up with a smile as Misa bent over, shrugging her bag off and to the floor. Finding them quickly where she had laid them at the top of her bag. 

Handing them over she zipped her bag back up, not bothering to put it back over her shoulder instead just holding the top handle. 

“Goodness, number one again, these are the highest scores you’ve had!” Misa only gave a “Mhmm” in response, picking up her bag and stepping up the stairs next to her, “Yeah, I guess. I'm going to study in my room so please don't interrupt me if you could.”

Of course her Mom would buy that excuse, she always does, even right after an exam, no chance for rest with an honors student. “As you wish,” She started up the stares her hand trailing over the railing when her mom called back to her, “Oh Misa, do you want anything at all dear? You can ask for anything you like you know.”

Misa turned back and gave her a large smile and a shake of her head, “Nothing I can think of at the moment Mom, thanks though,” Another award-winning smile that would melt the hearts of my parents she thought to herself as she pushed her door closed, flipping the lock. “Besides, I've already got what I want.” 

Misa pulled the lacey black curtains together, the metal rings scraping with a shrill against the curtain rod. The room now shrouded in darkness, she flicked on her lamp and pulled out the Death Note from a secret back pocket she had sewed into the bag for safety and secrecy. She used a finger to flick open the book to the first two pages where she had already written down many names. 

Four columns. 

Thirty-nine rows. 

A hundred and fifty-six names per page. 

Two pages. 

Five days.

A little less than a week and Misa had already killed three-hundred-and-six criminals. She leaned back in her chair, kicking her legs up and down with a fit of giggles that combined with the squealing of the metal chair.

“I see you've taken quite a liking to it.”

Misa’s heart caught in her throat as she put her legs back down, gripping her table tightly to spin around to face the voice. “Oh my god.” Eyes trailing up from the bottom of skinny feet and gangly legs covered in baggy black fabric to his chest where the clothing became more skin-tight and seemed to meld with the creature's light blue-grey skin, staples appearing out of the clothing and then disappearing into its skin. Black feathers that were just as skinny as its arms and legs protruded from the shoulders of the clothing, bending at sharp angles. Then finally she reached the face, much less terrifying than she had imagined from its scratchy voice. Bulgy yellow eyes that didn't seem to look in the same direction as each other, blue lips that continued up its cheekbones were pulled back in a permanent smile to reveal small, yellowed, and cracked teeth. She tilted her head, her initial terror ebbing away now that she took its form in. Much less intimidating than she initially imagined.

“There's no reason to act surprised. I am Shinigami Ryuk. That used to be my notebook,” A long finger covered in jeweled-rings that curled into a sharp claw pointed towards her desk which she followed with her eyes to see her notebook. Misa grabbed at the edges of the book protectively and pulled it closer to herself, Ryuk didn't seem to notice though, “Judging by your laughter, you’ve already figured out what you have is no ordinary notebook.” 

Misa’s face glowed with another heart-melting smile. “Ryuk? That's a lovely name you have. So a Shinigami, God of death… I'm not surprised that you showed up here. In fact, I've been waiting for you.” Composing herself as the monster quirked his head to the side with an “Oh?” Misa stood up, smoothing out her school shirt and standing formally with her hands at her sides. “You’re right, I have already figured out that this Death Note I found is real, it didn't take me long. And now that I've witnessed its power I know _exactly_ what I'm going to do with it.” 

Ryuk put a finger to his chin, “Well, that's interesting, I certainly wasn't expecting this,” Misa felt even more satisfactory in her doings, “Several death notes have made their way into the human world in the past,” he held up one of his hands to his face, seeming to try and count on his fingers the amount, his eyes suddenly flicked up to meet Misa’s eyes, seeming to focus for the first time before trailing down to the open pages of her notebook, “But your the first to have written this many names. Look at how many people you’ve killed in only five days. Most are reluctant to write this much.” 

Misa turned her head down, eyes cast to the ground darkly. “I've already thought everything through and prepared myself for this.” Folding her hands behind her back Misa looked back up to the Shinigami who looked at her without much emotion on his face. “I used the notebook even though I knew it belonged to a Death God, and now that shinigami has come,” She held out a hand to Ryuk, “So now you're here to take my soul right?”

Ryuk stared at Misa’s outstretched hand for a moment before letting out a croaking laugh. “What do you mean? Is that some fantasy you humans came up with? I'm not going to do anything to you,” Misa took a half-step backward in confusion, “The notebook becomes part of the human realm from the very moment it touches the earth. In other words the notebook,” he pointed a finger at the black leather-bound book, before trailing it up to point directly at Misa, “Is now yours.” Her hand drifted over to the book, stroking it almost lovingly.

She picked it up, flipping it closed to look at the gleaming white letters, “This is mine?”

The shinigami shrugged, “If you don't want it, just give it to someone else. But,” Ryuk scratched at his chin, ”If you give it away I’d have no choice but to erase your memories of the notebook.” 

Misa smiled, “So this book, is all mine now?”

Ryuk let out another laugh, choking and scratching, which made Misa look up in surprise. “Let's just say this. You will feel the fear and pain only known to the humans who have used the notebook. And when it's your time, it will fall on me to write your name in my Death Note.” 

“Well I haven't felt anything yet and I doubt I will if nothing has happened yet,” Misa interrupted the Shinigami who looked a little taken aback at her words, “And what would it matter if you ended me instead? I’ll die the same time as I would if you weren't here, dear Ryuk.” 

“Heh heh heh, this is certainly more interesting than I expected. But be warned, the humans who used the Death Note can neither go to Heaven or Hell. But that's about it. Now you have something to look forward to after you'd die.”

A knock at the door made Misa jump, dropping the book. She looked back at her door listening to her mother call to her from the other side.

“It'll be alright, answer it.”

Misa looked back at the shinigami before kicking the Death Note under her desk to keep it hidden and gripping the doorknob. “What is it?” 

“I thought you’d like some apples,” She held up a bowl filled with a few round ruby apples that caught a bit of sheen from the hallway light, “The neighbors brought them over for us.” She leaned her head over to look into the dark room, “I know you like your room dark but really you should open those curtains up once in a while, you’ll ruin your eyesight!” 

Misa looked behind her to see Ryuk's giant form standing smack dab in the middle of the room, but her mother didn't even bat an eye. Even in the dark, yellowed eyes should have given him away. Turning back to her mom she took the bowl, nodding her head, “Thanks mom, and I’ll open them in a sec.” Giving her mother a quick peck on the cheek she shut the door, setting the bowl down on her desk.

“That notebook you found originally belonged to me.”

Misa kneeled onto the soft black and white checkered rug to swipe the note up from under the desk, “Yes, you established that already.”

“Well since you are using it, you're the only one who is now able to see me, and of course my voice can only be heard by you.” The shinigami moved over to the desk, using his fingers that curled into claws that thinned into points as small as pine needles. “In order words, the Death Note is the bond between Misa, the human, and Ryuk, the shinigami.” He bit into the apple, his yellow teeth clashing with the bloody crimson skin of the fruit, “Mmm, yum.” 

Misa cringed at the sloppy eating, setting the notebook on the other end of the desk away from the sticky apple juice that dribbled down the Death gods fingers and onto the desk. “I just have one more question I need to ask you,” Clasping her hands together and pressing them to her chest she looked up at the monster with sincerity, “Why was I chosen for this?”

Ryuk gulped the rest of the apple down, core, stem, and all. Misa pouted at being ignored, jumping up and waving her hand in front of the shinigami's face, “Hey! Are you even listening?” 

Ryuk easily batted her hand away, “Mmm, apples in the human world are worth the trip. What's the best way to describe these? Juicy.”

Misa grabbed the bowl away from him, blocking the other apples from his grasp with her arm. “Answer my question and you can have another.”

Ryuk rasped out a chuckle, “What are you talking about, I didn't ‘choose you’, This was all an accident. You actually thought you were chosen because you're so smart or something?” Don't be so vain. It just happened to fall to your city where you just happened to pick it up. That's all there is to it,” Misa bit her lip, well that was a blow to her pride, “That's why I wrote the instructions in English, the most popular language in the human world,” the shinigami tapped the notebook with a finger, holding out his other hand to Misa who begrudgingly dropped another apple into his palm. 

“Then why did you drop it in the first place? You don't look like the kind to have slippery fingers,” She asked dryly as Ryuk gulped down the second apple.

“I was bored.”

“You were...bored?”

Ryuk shrugged, turning his head away to look up at the ceiling with an unreadable gaze, “The truth is shinigami don't really haven't got much to do these days. Most of the time we're either taking naps or gambling. If you take the time to write names in your death note, the others just laugh at you for working so hard. EVen if you wrote the name of another shinigami it would be pointless because they wouldn't die. And since we live in the Shinigami realm it brings us no amusement to kill those in the human world either. So I figured I'd have more fun if I came down here myself,” His gaze snapped back to Misa, “Anyways I'm surprised at how many names you've written. But I want to know why you only wrote the cause of death for that guy who was hit by the truck.”

Misa grinned, glad for an excuse to talk about her masterplan. “Well my dear Ryuk,” she took an apple of her own from the bowl rubbing the fruit against her school uniform, looking at her reflection in the apple, “If you don't write down the cause of death, the person dies of a heart attack, and that's probably the best thing about the Death Note Ryuk.” She took a small bite from the apple, “You see, I've already exhausted the list of the world’s major criminals, and eventually,” She smirked against the apple, “I'm going to get rid of them _all_ ,” She put a hard emphasis on the all, but Ryuk just looked bored. God, did this SHinigami ever change face aside from looking bored or laughing at her? She was trying to be nice but he sure wasn't making it easy.

“What's the point in doing that?”

Misa huffed, “Because, _Ryuk_ it's only a matter of time before they figure out that these criminals are actually being eliminated by someone. That someone,” Misa threw open the curtains to point over the concrete jungle, “Is out there passing judgment on the wicked.”

“Why even bother, what are you trying to achieve by passing judgment on them? I mean, why do you care?” 

The student turned away from the curtains, closing them behind her. “Because dear Ryuk, I've been bored too. I wasn't ready to believe it at first, but it's obvious now,” Misa picked up the notebook, flipping through the pages rapidly, “There's something about the notebook itself that makes the humans want to try it out, at least once.”

Misa rushed into the alleyway next to the convenience store. “I killed him. I really just killed two men. Those were, human lives i-it won't be overlooked,” She glanced back to see the truck driver on the phone, turned away from the corpse of the motorcyclist. She felt sick at first but now something else was pushing its way into her mind. “No, no wait, maybe I'm wrong, this is exactly what I've been thinking about lately,” She turned her head back, blue eyes narrowing, “This world is rotting, and those who are making it rot deserve to die.” Misa’s eyes trailed up to another large screen over a tall building broadcasting another criminal, “Someone has to do it, so why not me? I’ll sacrifice my mind and soul, it’ll be worth it,” She turned completely back, eyes sparkling with the glow of nighttime lamp posts, she gripped her bag, “Because the world can't go on like this anymore.”

She snapped out of her memories of the night, the second time she killed, and she turned her head to look over at the notebooks original owner, straw-colored hair folding over her back, “I had wondered about what if someone else picked up this notebook. Is there anyone out there other than me who would be willing to eliminate the vermin of our world? If I don't do it then who will?” Misa grabs at Ryuks hand, caught up in her speech, her fingers swiping through him like he was a bit a ghost, she didn't seem to notice though and continued her rant, “And that's just it, there is nobody else! But I can, I'm the only one who can do it. With this notebook, I’ll change the world. I've already written this many and I plan to write even more.”

Misa flipped open the book holding it up far too close to the shinigami's face who seemed quite entertained by the whole affair, “See,” she giggled, pointing at names in the book, and scratching her nail down the columns of criminals, “I first wrote the names of the worst criminals I could think of like I was taking a broom to the world, cleaning and cleaning until there won't be a speck of dirt and grime left. And while the truly guilty,” She jabbed a finger at one of the names towards the top, “He murdered a whole family of five,” maneuvering the book to hold open with one hand so she could point at two people written on top of each other on the other page, “They hijacked a children's school bus, and this one was involved in a string of robberies, and all the others will be erased with heart attacks,” She snapped the book close with a whooshing sound effect to emphasize her point, “While the others,” using her forefinger and thumb she held them up to her eye positioning them so there was a small gap between them, “Who is less guilty will be erased through disease and accidental deaths,” she squished the fingers together with a smirk. “Then, and _only then_ will the world start moving in the right direction,” She tossed the book down on the desk, waving her arms in the air and spinning around still in her school uniform she hand gotten a chance to take off, completely caught up in the world she had created in her mind, “It’ll be a new world, no more injustice, filled only with the people who I have judged to be good and honest, hard working people.”

The shinigami tilted his head, “But if you did that, it would make you the only bad person left,” he pointed out which made the student drop her arms and stop to turn back to look at him, eyes narrowed and a cold smile on her face.

“Whatever do you mean dear Ryuk? I'm just a sweet, hardworking honors student, considered to be one of Japan's best and brightest, and I will become a goddess, the ruler of my new world!” 

Ryuk watched her as she dove onto the bet in a fit of squealing laughter, clutching one of her many patchworked dolls. “It's just as I thought,” he spoke to himself quietly, though he could have yelled and Misa wouldn't have been able to hear him over her own joy, “Humans are so interesting…”

  
  



	2. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *No Major Changes  
> *If you see spots where it’s not indented, ignore it, this thing doesn’t copy the spaces well.  
> *If you notice any spelling or grammar errors tell me and I’ll fix it

“He found himself overwhelmed with happiness and satisfaction.”

It was another boring day in class. Whispers of gossip and other talk swirling quietly in the room, talking bouncing off the spotless green tile, “I have no idea what he was thinking, coming to my house, but I am so through with him,” and similarly colored plaster walls, “Seriously? So what happened with your dad after that?” The large shadows cast by the deep red-tinged orangey sun, surrounded by a fiery halo of yellow and white that gleamed so brightly it could blind someone simply glancing out the slightly dusty plastic windows where the golden star swam lazily. Though as brilliant as it was it made the whole room dark except for Misa and a few other students in the desk column against the windows. The rest of the room shrouded in a dark veil of mourning black, students squinting at textbooks to make out the shaded words while the teacher at the front drifted to the left, shifting his book to catch a few spare beams, just enough to make it to the end of class. 

Misa did not waste her position at the windows though. Her textbooks spread haphazardly in a jumbled and confusing way, pages of the top book overlapping and blocking views of the second which did the same to the third. The A+ student did not adore any semblance of unorganization, even in her room, cluttered with many collections and nicknacks that caught her eye, there was always a method to the madness. But it was necessary to jumble her desk up to hide the fact her attention was not focused on the chapter reading, but actually on a notebook filled with nothing but names. “Knowing that, at long last, his dream had finally come true. Alright then. Amane?” Misa looked up, tilting her head to still view the page just barely below her eyelids, scratching the rest of a criminal's name in with her pencil. “Please recite the rest of this line for us.”

Nodding with a smile, she stood up, drawing the top book up to her and quickly flipping its pages to the line, “Having finally made his dream a reality, he was overwhelmed. Both by the magnitude of his achievement, and by the joy and happiness that it brought him,” She recited, dutifully before sitting back down, smoothing the black skirt of her uniform.

“That was very well done, but I'm not surprised of course. Absolutely flawless,” her teacher praised, just as he did after every question she answered, “Very good, well then we’ll leave it at that for today,” Her teacher finished as Ryuk's spiky black hair made its way up from the corner of her eye. The shinigami had been floating around the classroom and halls the whole day, never missing a chance to complain. It had really started to get on Misa’s nerves despite how politely she tried to make him understand that no, she cant skip school, no she can't give him an apple because everyone would see, and no, she doesn't care that he’s bored. Keep her eyes forward pointedly as students around her packed up their stuff, voicing their relief to be done. 

A bell chimed gently, with a soothing bing bong bong to signal an official end. Although most students would stick around for a while afterward to talk with friends in the teacherless classrooms or attend after school clubs. Misa did not like to do either of those and she packed up her bags, shielding the notebook with another book, sliding it inconspicuously inside the bookbag. Next to her, Ryuk stretched, rolling his shoulders and arms, though whether he actually felt sore or was just trying to be dramatic she couldn't be sure. “I thought it’d never end,” Misa rolled her eyes behind blonde hair, if the death God could handle eternity in a wasteland he should surely be able to handle a school day no sweat, “It's been so boring here.” Ignoring him she slung her bag over her shoulder and left the room, her shined black shoes padding while her complaining follower called to her to ask where she was going, with, of course, the only response being the door sliding shut behind her.

The Shinigami had easily caught up to her outside in the school courtyard, close enough behind her now that she could have felt his breath on the back of her neck if he had any need to breathe, and lazily floating on large wings filled with decayed and rotting feathers, a few falling and disappearing into the ground with every flap, though the skeletal abomination never seemed to lose any flight ability despite the losses. “Misa? Hey Misa. Are you even listening to me?” He complained, dropping and raising his pitch to be as noticeable, and annoying, as possible. 

Turning her head, ever so slightly to the side so she could see him out of the corner of her eye, she finally addressed Ryuk. “I've told you this several times, dear Ryuk,” she murmured, “Unlike you, people can still hear me when I talk out loud, which many don't take kindly to.” 

The shinigami scoffed, “Well aren't you boring.” Misa sighed, she had been quite excited when the death God first showed up to her, but that original enthusiasm had quickly deteriorated when she learned just how irritating the monster could get. 

The two passed a small huddle of girls and one of them turned, recognizing her with a smile, “Hey Misa! Me and the other girls were going to go hang out at the-” Misa cut her off with a cheery wave before she could finish.

“Sorry, I'm a little busy today, maybe some other time.” The girl nodded with an “Mhmm” and turned back to talking with her friends. 

Misa’s Shinigami follower looked back at the small cluster of giggling students while she continued to stroll forward at a leisurely pace across the concrete slabbed sidewalks that cut through yellow and crusty dried up grass patches. In the summer and spring the school was beautiful, but in the winter months, like now at the beginning of December, the grounds were at bast drab. “You don't have anything to do,” Her companion's voice broke through her thoughts, “Aren't you just going to go home and hang out in your room, as usual.” Despite the Shinigami being with her for a single day, the monster had quickly picked up on her habits. Although this was just another instance of him crudely misinterpreting her activities. Hopefully, in the coming days of her rise to power he would learn his and her true purpose to this world, to be the judges of the good and evil. 

“But first,” She thought with a huff to herself, “I have to teach him to get through a regular school day.” Lowering her voice to converse with him again she whispered, “What are you talking about? I always have something to do. Something very important my dear Ryuk.”

The sound of graphite scratching against notebook paper filled the gothic room. Talking also floated through the room despite the only two in the bedroom being silent. “There was more violence across the city today. Another stabbing, this time at a restaurant in the heart of the Kabuki-Cho district of Shinjuku,” the newscaster reported from the small, black boxy TV that rested on a low table covered in a crumpled lace tablecloth. Filling the name in below many others her concentration was interrupted by Ryuk crunching into an apple and speaking to her with a full mouth

“Mmm, Hey Misa?” Wincing in disgust she focused her attention back on the TV. “I'm talking to you,” He tried again, audibly swallowing the apple, making her grip the pencil a little tighter. He was very hard to ignore.

She turned in her chair, spinning to face him with a quiet squeal of creaking metal, the sooner she addressed him the sooner he would stop bothering her. Trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice she spoke to him, “What is it?” The Shinigami finished up the apple, choking down the core. Misa thanked the benevolent higher powers that made sure she and this crude Shinigami were on different planes. She didn't know what she would do if she had to live with Ryuk being able to mess up her bed and other belongings with his crude behavior. Although it was still strange to see the plush blanket retain its perfectly crisp unfolded and untouched shape even as she could see the man on top sitting up from where he had been previously lying leisurely.

“Why are you working so hard?”

Misa felt her face draw into a bright smile, “Finally!” her thoughts screamed, finally a question she could take joy in answering. Hopefully, this would also get her forced companion to understand why she couldn't take breaks. “Because my dear Ryuk,” She noticed anytime she used the nickname the Shinigami who it was addressed at would make a face with an unreadable emotion, though he never outright said if he enjoyed or despised it so she continued to use it, “I can't afford to waste any time here. I've got a very small window of time,” She squished her fingers closely together to visualize her less than adequate time constraints, “To write names in this notebook.” Her fingers drifted across its pages unconsciously, as they always did when she talked about the notebook. “I only have from when I get home from school until I go to bed. I still need to sleep so I can maintain my average and stay at the top of my class,” As she said this she raised her hands in the air before bringing them back down dramatically to press together and put them next to her head to resemble sleeping against a pillow, her eyes drifting shut, “And I obviously can't sleep in school.” Her eyelids sprung back open, face becoming pouty and bored, “Plus there's all the studying at home I have to do and cram school.” Sighing Misa kicked back in her chair, bumping the edge of the table which made her pencil roll slightly before stopping again, “Can't let myself get too tired after all, It will start to affect my health and my mental performance. If I'm serious about trying to create an ideal world that's free from evil then I need to make the most of my time.” She was a God in a mortal's body, and the greatest folly of humanity was schoolwork Misa mused with a huff.

The sudden rattling of the doorknob startled the aspiring God making her turn to where the doorknob was turning back and forth, entry to the room blocked by the turned lock. “Huh, weird. Hey, Misa, what's going on, why's your door locked?” Misa tilted her head with a smile, it was just Sayu. 

“Yes Sayu, what is it?”

“Can you help me with my homework?”

“Yes, of course, give me a second!” 

Misa gathered up the Death Note, lifting it off the desk and dropping it into one of the drawers attached to the desk, putting a textbook in its place. Then she bounced over to the drawer, her socked feet sliding slightly when she stepped off the black and white carpet onto smooth floors. She flipped the lock and opened the door to her little sister who flounced past her, jumping into Misa’s chair and spinning around in it, her arms hanging off one side while her feet rested against the other armrest. “We’re doing quadratic equations in math,” she sighed, resting her face against her hand, pouting. “Sorry to interrupt. I know your studying right now, but I'm like the only person in my class who doesn't get this stuff. Thanks so much!” Misa giggled, grabbing the back of the chair and spinning it to face the desk properly. 

“Sit right or you’ll ruin your back.” Sayu righted herself happily, and though Misa itched to get back to writing names, she could always make time for her precious little sister. When Misa ruled the world, she would make sure Sayu had everything she could ever want. 

Ryuk spoke up, not liking being forgotten, “I'd be careful if I were you, if anyone else touches that notebook you’ve got hidden in your drawer, they'll be able to see me.” Misa whipped her head back with a sneer, “He’s always got to wait to say stuff at the worst possible time doesn't he…” She thought with a grumble. 

“What's wrong Misa? Are you alright?”

“Oh, yes, It's nothing,” Misa leaned over as Sayu plopped her own workbook on top of Misa’s, “So what exactly don't you understand?”

“Uh...well….I think all of it.” Misa laughed, picking up her pencil.

“Alright, let me see what I can do for you.”

  
  


“There have been fifty-two deaths that we’re aware of, and that's just in the past week.” The dim room was lit up only by a large theater screen, projecting an image of Interpol's logo on it, at the front of the auditorium room. The room was split into two, rows of plush gray chairs crawling up a green-tinged tile rule, cut like Moses parting the red sea with concrete stairs likewise colored and tiled.

Three delegates at the front sat and spoke, impossibly small in the room filled with many important and intelligent people. “Every single one of them involved a heart attack,” the man in the middle added on to the first’s statement.

“They were all criminals who were either being held in prison or who were wanted by police for outstanding criminals. And I think it's safe to say there are other criminals whose deaths are unaccounted for.” The subtle squeaking of the plastic chairs padded behind every word of the delegate's speech, the room was uneasy and constantly shifting themselves around for some level of comfort in the uncomfortable situation. 

“In which case the death toll could be well over a hundred.” Murmurs followed this grim statement, the other delegates lined up in their pretty little rows turning and discussing with one another.

One of these delegates did not partake in this discussion, instead, turning to face an older man who was suited in brown. “Uh, morning Chief,” he greeted as the other sat down next to him, “They started the meeting without you.” 

The Chief readjusted his headset, brushing blond hair, “That's fine, I had to take an urgent call from headquarters,” His tone dismissive.

He was interrupted by another person speaking, “At any rate, these were criminals who were probably facing execution sooner or later. Perhaps we shouldn't be so,” He wasn't even able to finish speaking the words of a devil's advocate before being interrupted by an outburst of justice from another.

”Why should it matter if it's a criminal or someone innocent?” The suited delegate slammed his hands on the fake wooden desks, the slap of flesh and plastic accompanying his cry, “Last time I checked, murder was still murder!”

Another weighed in with a shrug, “It's still too early to consider these a homicide.”

As from before, the nameless delegate called bluff, “Then how did all these people have heart attacks at the same time? That's no coincidence it's murder!”

But such an idea was simply too preposterous to comprehend, “You think it's possible to simultaneously kill all these people in different locations?”

“We’re treating this as an elaborate murder plot that's been carried out by a large organization.”

“If it is a large organization, I'm sure I'm not alone in suspecting the FBI or CIA,” Another voice dripping with unshielded malice chimed in.

“I dare you to say that again!”

“Now, this is not the time to be joking around!” One tried desperately to amend, this ICPO meeting intending to discuss a serious string of deaths within the concrete walls of the prison was instead turning out to feel more like a bar fight. “We need to confirm that these are indeed homicides and no coincidences!”

“How Autopsy results show that in all of these cases, the victims died of a sudden heart attack.”

“How? Autopsy results show that in all of these cases, the victims died of a sudden heart attack.”

“Absolutely. If these people had been shot or stabbed, at least we’d have something to go on.”

“If that's the case, it looks as if we’ll have no choice but to bring in L.” The room went silent. It was as if all the sound in the world was swallowed by the Earth itself when the letter acting as a name was spoken. Then in a burst ripples of whispering erupted back out of the volcano formed.

The name had less effect though on the young man in the back, leaning over to the police Chief next to him. “Uh, Chief, what's this “L” they’re talking about?”

Turning his head to face the other he explained the mood changing letter. “I forgot that it's your first time at this conference. We don't know L’s real name or whereabouts. In fact, we still don't even know what he looks like.” 

The younger’s eyes widened in surprise, “So many protective measures, he must be important.”

Nodding in agreement the explanation was continued, “He is, he’s managed to solve every case he’s ever taken on. And he’s tackled some of the greatest mysteries this world has ever known.” Looking up with crossed arms the glow of the theater screen shimmered slightly in his dark eyes, “He hides in the shadows, but he’s the best of the best. The last resort,” The Chief lowered his head again to face the other whose black hair fell across his naive and awestruck eyes.

“Well we’ve heard that this L is extremely arrogant and will only take on the case’s he’s personally interested in,” the voice was filled with insulting criticism.

“That's exactly right! Besides, we don't even know how to contact him.”

“L is already on the move.” Delegates all turned in shock to this new approacher and the silence was again spread thick, like a heavy fleece blanket in the dead of a winter night. The newcomer was clothed in the average garb of every mystery of the world, a black sweeping trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat pulled flush to his face, keeping the face of its owner in undecipherable shadow.

“Gentlemen, L has already begun their investigation into these incidents.”  
The Chief could already anticipate the question that would surely bubble forth from the newbie next to him, “Whos that?”

“That's the only known person who can contact L. Nobody knows his true identity either.”

“Please be silent. L would now like to address the delegates.”

A thick white laptop was placed on the table at the very front of the room and the top was opened, the screen displaying the letter L in a fancy font, the large theater screen connecting with the computer to show the same thing.

Then a heavily modulated voice spoke through the electronic, “Greeting to all of you at the ICPO. I am L.” 

The smell of rot and rusty metal-filled Misa’s senses. She did not want to be here, the whole junkyard was filled with the worst obscenities of mankind. Colorful plastic covered in cheap peeling paint that fell in strips to the dried out dirt. There were no patches of grass left in this filthy place, ripped up by all the twisted metal of old car parts and broken washing machines. If there was any other viable option she would have done it the second it came up, but all that was left was this dump.

“What are we doing here anyway? I don't understand why we’re sneaking around this place, tell me.” Misa sighed, no matter how many times she told this shinigami her plans he always forgot and made her repeat herself. She paused in her step, looking to the white sky, then continued walking, eyes scanning for the cleanest, if you could call it “clean”, and least likely spot to make her need a tetanus shot. 

“As you told me earlier, if anyone else touches the note they’ll be able to see you. I can't let someone touch it accidentally and see you. Besides, I figured if someone saw it, I could tell them it was just a book to keep records in preparation for my future as a detective,” Misa used her shoulder to push a box aside, dipping under a string of rope spread across the sky, “I'm walking a tightrope right now, if I make one little slip-up, I could kill me, and my entire family.”

The altered voice of the famous detective continued their story, “The difficulty of this case lies on its unprecedented scope. And make no mistake, we are witnessing an atrocious act of mass murder, one such that is unforgivable. This case cannot be solved without the full cooperation of the ICPO. That is all of the police organizations you represent throughout the world. You need to decide to fully support the investigation at this meeting. Also, I require additional cooperation from Japan's National Police Agency. The chief’s eyes widened in surprise, and he grasped his headpiece mic with his thumb and forefinger, bringing it closer to his mouth.

“Why Japan in particular?”

“Because whether the guilty party is an individual or a group, there's a strong possibility that they are Japanese. And even if they are not, we can be sure they’re hiding in Japan,” Answered L calmly.

Soichiro’s brow only furrowed further, this didn't answer his question at all. “What is this all based on?”

“Why Japan, you ask?” The chief grit his teeth, he knew this guy was arrogant but this is just ridiculous, “I think I will be able to provide you with proof of that after I directly confront the culprit.”

“A direct confrontation?” Was this guy crazy?

”At any rate, I would like to set up the investigation headquarters in Japan.”

Misa sat back on her legs, quite proud of her ingeniousness. “This was easier to make than I thought it’d be.”

Ryuk looked up, once Misa started fiddling around with the drawer he had asked her what she was doing but had quickly gotten bored of her explaining science he had no interest in. “So you were able to hide it then?”

She nodded eagerly with a large smile, “Mhmm!” Her finger brushed gently down her desk’s drawer, “Right in this drawer.” The shinigami looked over the ordinary plastic panels and clean metal handle and frame. It sure didn't look special to him, although Misa sure seemed to be celebrating a lot about her supposed triumph.

“Doesn't really seem particularly well hidden,” He pointed a clawed finger clothes in black to the drawer where the obvious shine of a key stuck out from the drawer's lock, “You even left the key in the lock.”

Rolling her eyes she tapped the key indignantly, “That's the whole point, dear Ryuk, I intentionally left the key in the most notable place I could think of.” She crossed her arms, lifting them highly with pride, “It's called misdirection, see,” She turned to pull open the drawer with a flourish. But when the Shinigami stepped over to see there was only a plain brown diary. 

“It's just a regular diary.”

“Yup! If someone were to find this decoy diary, that would satisfy their curiosity. But the real key is this,” She held up her kitty pen, scrutinizing it closely. “It's just a regular pen, and all I need is this part.” Quickly pulling the nib from its place she caught the spring and reached up to seat it on the desk along with the casing. 

“That's a key?”

“Yup, come here and see.” The death god hobbled over, leaning down to her height, “If you look closely there's a small hole underneath the drawer,” She pointed to the carefully cut opening, tapping it with her nail. She held up the pen resort next, “Then just insert this.” Misa pushed the thin stick up, and the gentle sound of scraping wood was heard as the panel inside was pushed up to reveal the dark-colored Death Note.

Ryuk nodded approvingly, “Ah, a fake bottom.” He lifted a hand thoughtfully, first pointing at the decoy, “This diary will distract most people,” He quickly trailed his finger down to the real drawer, “From the real treasure. I doubt anyone will find it now.” 

“But that's not all.”

“Oh?”

Misa pulled the ink reservoir acting as a key out of its lock, letting the panel drop back down slowly until it was settled back in its place. “Even if someone figures out there's a fake base, I've set things up so that there's no way they could get their hands on the notebook. I've set things up so that there's no way they could get their hands on the notebook. You see, once the ink reservoir is inserted, it acts as an insulator, preventing the flow of electricity from this circuit. When the fake base of the drawers is put back, this piece of rubber also prevents the flow of electricity...” Ryuk sighed, she was back on her science ramble from earlier. Misa continued her explanation a little more before a set of words caught the shinigami's attention again, “...Instantly setting the notebook on fire.”

“Set it on fire?”

Misa huffed, tilting her head up to him with narrowed eyes, “Yes that's what I said, weren't you listening to me talking about the gasoline?” Ryuk smiled, shaking his head.

She huffed again, “Well it will be set on fire if someone tries to force the bottom open. This ensures all evidence will be completely destroyed.” She shut the drawer, shifting to stretch her socked legs out in front of her while leaning back on her arms, “If I'm ever questioned, I'd say that I was hiding the real diary because I didn't want anyone to see it. It's a pretty believable excuse.” Tilting her head over to him with a coy smile she gave a wink, “I mean, it is my diary after all.”

“I've heard of humans finding Death Notes in the past and typically the biggest problem they had was finding a good place to hide it. But you, Misa, you're probably the first to have given it this much thought.” The student glowed from the praise, “Though…” Misa looked up, eyes questioning, “It's a pretty risky setup from the look of it. If you make even the slightest mistake, you could be badly burned.”

Misa giggled, slipping her arms out from behind her back to lie down on the soft carpeted floor, closing her eyes in pure joy at her ingeniousness. “Risky? My dear Ryuk, you say the strangest things sometimes.” Her eyes cracked open as she reminisced on all the times she could have been caught, “This whole thing has been a risk since the very minute. From the moment I attained the Death Note. I'm sorry, but compared to that, this doesn't even qualify as a risk to me.” She waved her hand dismissively, “In fact, it actually protects me. It really all comes down to a choice,” Turning her head to face him she smiled, “Would I prefer to be executed, or deal with a little house fire?”

“Last night in the West Tokyo penitentiary, Naoki Koro Kitayama, originally sentenced to fifteen years for armed robbery, was reported to have died of a sudden heart attack at the age of thirty-two. This is just the most recent death in the steadily growing number of cases involving inmates dying of heart Attacks.”

Students of the Daikouku Private academy watched the broadcast whispering to each other.

“This is unbelievable. Criminals are dropping like flies lately.”

“It's a little scary, but at the same time, it's kind of cool.”

“Sure. Just make sure you don't do anything bad.”

“I won't be surprised if the police were behind this.”

“No way. The police don't have that kind of power.”

“Don't you know about him?”

“Huh? About who?”

“Kira. You know, Kira.”

“I wonder who's gonna be killed next.”

Misa’s eyes only sparkled brighter as she continued to scroll through the website, the primitive Web Design showcasing proof of her deeds. She had looked at dozens of websites on her computer and they all held the same thing. Small pixel boxes of pictures, some with faces, some with pets or items, each talking with one another about their shared curiosity. The pages were extremely simple, no one was going to make a professional website of course so its creation was entrusted to the hobbyist, but despite this, the pages were exploding in activity recently. Scrolling down the seemingly endless discussions and text boxes. Misa’s heartfelt ready to burst with pride and ego, all this, was for her. She needed to share it.

The student spun in her chair, gripping the arm rest’s tight with a grin, pointing excitedly at the computer screen, “Ryuk, look at

The monster looked up, dragging himself over without much enthusiasm, leaning down to read the screen. “The Legend of Kira the Savior, Sounds pretty cool, is this about you?”

She nodded, “These have been popping up everywhere all over the web.” Spinning back around to face the computer she pressed a finger under the word “Kira” on the site. “I think they took this name from the English word “Killer.” Misa frowned slightly, brushing a piece of blonde hair from her face while throwing herself back with a huff, “Though I can't say I'm too happy about being called a “killer-”

“But you are.”

She rolled her eyes, pouting and flopping over the side of her chair, “I'm not a “killer” Ryuk, I'm a cleanser. But this looks like it's the name they decided on. When I search the word,” She did so quickly, the clacking of the keyboard popping up and ceasing within mere moments as a tiny rainbow beach ball spun hypnotically on the screen before more site links popped up," More sites come up. There's a new one practically every day.” She turned off the computer, standing up to stretch in the darkness of her room. She flitted around the room like a wild blue butterfly searching for sweet golden nectar in the prime of summer, sweeping up some of her strange patchwork dolls in the flurry. She dropped them onto her bed, falling to her knees so she could be level with her new playground. Misa picked up one of them, it resembled a rabbit, pink with an adorable stitched smile and one of its glassy marble eyes covered by an eyepatch with a heart sticker, holding it around the waist. “The media hasn't picked up on it though. They're still calling this a succession of unexplainable deaths among the world's most hardened criminals. But,” She held up a second doll, this one much more human-like with blonde hair and large eyes that protruded past its face, dressed up in a hunters olive green with a miny red cape held by a skull pin at its plush neck, “The People of the world can already sense that there's something happening.” Dropping the rabbit doll she grabbed one of her lacy black curtains to open it up a little, a thin stream of golden light pooling like thick honey in her room. Holding up the doll to the light she puppeted one of its arms to lift up like it was pointing over the city, “They know there's someone out there passing righteous judgment.”

Letting the curtain fall into place, smothering the room in a mourning veil, Misa dropped down onto the floor, leaning against the wall next to her windows and only lightly holding the doll next to her. “This would never be discussed in school though. If someone asked them whether bad people deserved to die they would all say the same thing.” Holding the doll up to cover her face, she turned it so Ryuk could see its eyes, then poke in an artificially high and squeaky voice, “It's wrong to kill!” Her pitch dropped back down to normal as she tossed the doll to her bed, it ending up hitting the edge and bouncing on to the ground. “That's what they would all say. Of course, this is the “right” answer to give isn't it?” 

She stood up, bracing herself with one hand as she straightened, “Humans are always trying to maintain appearances when they’re in public. We’re all smoke and mirrors, that's just how it is. But those sites show how people really feel.” Misa was back on her ramblings of justice and power, each word granting her more and more a feeling of power and strength. She was a genius before, but now she would be a god. Omnipotent to every one bad in this world, she would snuff it from the world like one of her lavender candles that dripped the hot wax of evil onto a cool plate of good. But once the heat of hell is gone, the wax cools, and the candle is able to stay clean and pure. “They’re too scared to support me. After all, no one wants to be friends with someone who supports a killer. But on the internet, where no one knows who you are, my influence is spreading rapidly, taking in new members every day!”

“Like a virus,” Ryuk interjected, biting into an apple stolen from her fruit basket.

But Misa shook her head, “No, not a virus dear Ryuk, that implies it's a sickness. No, this, this is more like rain. Pure and fresh, flowing down and blessing the heads of all those beneath it. Someones make the bad guys go bye-bye, and all that are clean, cheer. While those that know they have sinned will run, trying to open umbrellas while the rest stand in bliss under its waterfall. That is how it should be. It's perfect. And it's all going according to plan.”

Misa’s speech had long since ended and now she was back to writing names, staring boredly at the Tv screen, resting her head against her arm. As much good as it did, writing names sure did get pretty boring. She squinted at the screen, making sure she got all the details of the criminal's face in her head, however her memory game was interrupted. “We’d like to apologize for the interruption. As of now, we’re bringing you a live worldwide broadcast from Interpol, ICPO.”

Misa and Ryuk looked at each other, “Interpol?”

“We now take you live to the ICPO.” The TV changed scenes, bringing up a man in a grey suit and black tie sitting in front of the ICPO logo. A Metal nameplate sat in front of him proclaiming his name as Lind L. Tailor. He spoke after that awkward pause that happens on news stations, something in his voice was awkward, not how she expected the man to sound. “I head up an International Police Task Force which includes all member nations. I am Lind L. Tailor,” Misa could see how he hesitated ever so briefly after his name, eyes fluttering close and throat bobbing, “Otherwise known as L.” But for all the signs, Misa didn't understand one bit what was transpiring.

Back at Japan's National Police Agency headquarters Soichiro, the longtime chief of police, watched the same broadcast. Next to him, Matsuda also viewed the screen. “So this is how it all begins,” The chief muttered, as the man known as Lind L. announced himself as the head of a task force. The other people in the overwhelmingly drab office murmured to each other as they watched the gentle glowing monitor with wide eyes.

Although the chief accepted this turn of events, Matsuda could not comprehend the reasoning behind it all after listening to Soichiros earlier explanation of the famous detective. “But sir, I don't get it. He’s never actually shown his face before right? Why would he choose to do it now?”

“It must mean L’s serious about this.” Matsuda let out an “Mmm,” to show his understanding, turning back to the screen. But even as Soichiro watched, his mind was elsewhere, they had followed all of L’s orders delivered through the modulated laptop, now it was time to prove that what he said to the ICPO was true.

The man on the Tv seemed to recover, his eyes opening again and his head lifted up from where it had drooped down. “Criminals around the world are being murdered by a serial killer. I consider this crime to be the most atrocious act of murder in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira,” Misa perked up a bit, this was the first time the media had used her gifted name, “I will hunt you down. I will find you.”

Ryuk leaned forward, his permanent smile cracking open wider, blue lips curled back to broken yellow teeth, “He seems certain he’ll catch you.” 

Misa’s eyes only narrowed and grew dark, her own lips curling up into a cruel smile to match her shinigami followers. “He’s pretty stupid then. He has no chance of finding me out of all these people, I'm,” Turning her head to Ryuk, “Untouchable,” She declared boldly. Ryuk only snickered the rasping laugh that he so often did when there was nothing to laugh about. Pushing back her chair, fingers skittered over the Death Note lovingly, it was impossibly old yet pages still fresh as morning dew. “Even if he did find me, which would be impossible,” She giggled, “He would need this book first, there's simply no evidence against me!” Dropping the black leatherbound notebook back onto her desk she spun around her room, plucking her earlier dolls from her bed where she left them. “I knew the police would get involved eventually,” She murmured confidently, propping her pink rabbit doll against the pillar of her lamp while the man on the screen continued his speech.

“Kira, I've got a pretty good idea what your motivation might be, and I can guess what you hope to achieve. However, what you’re doing right now is evil.” Misa flinched slightly at his last trail of words. 

“Me? Evil?” Misa began to laugh, hands gripping to the side of her desk, “You really are stupid.” She only had to glance at the man's long coal-black hair, and deeply angry eyes to see him in the back of her eyelids. Scrawling his name into her next available row in the page, she glanced at the clock displaying the time. “I am justice, I protect the innocent and those who fear the cruel. I will be the god of a world everyone will desire entrance too!” She snapped the book closed, using it to point at her latest victim, “And those who oppose God are nothing but rats, undeserving of life.” Glancing at the clock Misa smothered giggles with a black pillow, “The entire world is watching L.” The seconds ticked down loudly, filling the room with their audible clicks in the dead quiet room. 

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

A gasp on the screen caused a cruel smile on the student's lips, “Zero.”

Collapsing dramatically, hand clutching to his suit over his heart two men in black suits came on screen, pulling the body away. Reaching over, she pushed her propped up bunny doll down with the calico ears of her kitty pen cap, “Bang.” Ryuk only watched silently, he had grown used to the puppet shows she performed for herself.

“Ah, I had to test this, just in case. But I never thought it would actually happen.” Her internal celebrations a squirt way too short as her head whipped up, in surprise, her eyes wider and mouth agape in stunned silence. There on the screen, replacing the dead man was the curves of a fancy, twisting and elegantly flowing upper case L. “Kira...It seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it.” The pen slipped from her perfectly manicured fingers, dropping softly with no sound to her black and white carpet. “Listen to me Kira, if you were indeed the man who killed Lind. L Tailor, the man that just collapsed on screen. I really should tell you that he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today,” Her teeth grit together so tightly it felt like all her teeth would crack and splinter across the floor, “That wasn't me.” There were no words to describe her immeasurable rage at being tricked. “He was arrested in absolute secrecy, so you couldn't have seen him on the TV or through the internet. It seems not even you have access to the information about these types of criminals.”

She wanted to scream. To wail and lament her failing. But if she made too much noise her Mom and sister would come to her door to find her reasons. Instead, she sank to the floor, squeezing the doll she had knocked over so tightly it feared its seams may rip and spill its cotton guts about the floor. She could hear through the red haze that surrounded her the quiet far off laugh of the Shinigami who followed her and some other words he said. Misa could only focus on thrashing the poor pink doll, the only words coming through to her was the real L, voice modulated, and robotic. 

“But I assure you, L is real. I do exist. Now, try and kill me!” A strangled growl ripped its way from the depths of her heart, clawings it's way up from her chest just how she clawed at the imagined face of her accuser

“What's wrong? Go ahead! Come on, right now, kill me!” In the police headquarters and all-around Misa’s city, people gathered to watch the detective taunt her. Detectives watched the monitor in terror and fear. 

“What the hell is going on? L is taking this too far.”

“Are you trying to kill yourself, L?”

And out in the streets where large screens showcased nothing but the cursive L on its screens by standard gathered to discuss amongst themselves.

“What's going on?”

“Look, it's Kira versus L!” 

“Huh? What? This is freaky.”

“Amazing.”

“Do it, Kira!”

“Someone, stop this!

“What's the matter!”

“Cant you do it?” Her rage showed no sign of stopping even as I grew tired of continuing their taunts. “Well Kira, it seems you can't kill me after all.” Not yet, she spat venomously inside her turbulent mind, storm clouds pouring thunder and lighting all over her thoughts. “This is a useful hint, knowing there are people you can't kill. I'll tell you something interesting to return the favor. Although this was announced as a worldwide broadcast the truth is, we are only broadcasting in the Kanto reign of Japan.” She paused her fit of fury for just a moment, hands stilling from where she had been choking the doll. “I had planned to broadcast this message around the world until we found you, but it looks like that won't be necessary. I know where you are now.”

Ryuk snickered, bending down to look at the screen at the same height as the kneeled down Misa. “This L guys pretty good isn't he?” The shinigami was completely unfazed by the murder in Misa’s eye, the brown lit up by golden bloodlust. 

“The police treated your first kill as an unrelated incident, but is actually the first of your victims was a suspect in Sinjuku.” The image of that day she killed that man for taking the daycare hostage rang in her mind. “OF all the recent heart attack criminals, that one’s crime was by far the least series. “Plus, his death was only ever reported inside Japan. That's how I knew you were in Japan, and your first victim was but an experiment. You haven't been doing this long.” Her eyes closed, trying to cool her veins, forcing her hands off the pink, patchwork bunny, not wanting to ruin it too badly with the way she dug her nails into it. “We decided to broadcast in Kanto first because of its large population, and with much luck we found you.”

Everyone who was watching the broadcast could only stare in awe as L listed off his deductions. The detective really was amazing.

“Naturally I am very interested to know how you were able to kill all these people without being physically there. But it's okay, I'm a very patient person, when I catch you you’ll be able to answer all my questions.” With that final note, the broadcast shut off and returned to stunned news reporters. Their words were empty though as they attempted to continue their initial segment. 

Ryuk only watched in great interest as Misa stood up on shaky feet, he wished he could hear what her thoughts screamed, though he would probably have gone deaf if he was able. Yellowed eyes flicked to the window that opened up over the thousands of buildings that cluttered the land, his mind running wild. Each of them would have to hunt down the other without knowing a name or face, and the first to have their identity exposed would die, the other a crowned victor. Humans really were so interesting and fun, it was such a good idea to drop the note down here. His rasping laugh carried over the world through the only person who could hear it was deaf, ears filled with their own goals. 

Impossibly far and impossibly close to each other, both Misa and the hidden detective proclaimed their justice. 

“L.”

“Kira.”

“I will hunt you down wherever you're hiding and I will eliminate you!” 

“I am.”

“I am.” 

“Justice!”

  
  



	3. Dealings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *No Major Changes

Men in greyscale suits sat at hard plastic desks, which were just as greyed out and lifeless, the olive green washed out of what could have been a rich tone of life. The other aspects of the room were as equally dingy and dead. Foamy mint green attempting to give a feel of brightness that only ended up being too dim under the harsh fluorescent of square office lights that lined the low ceiling, its white texture marred by dust that gave off a more stoney color than one of clean linen. Under any ordinary circumstances, the room may have appeared brighter, but metal shutters were drawn to preserve the light in the room from the hungry night sky that pawed at the building, hungry for a snack its stars could not satiate. It had been like this ever since the investigation began, late nights and early morning at the office. People at their desks busy with their research, some side by side in fold-out metal chairs, with pads of paper and poised pens, or boxy white computers, keyboards making thunking clicks and clacks by the fast fingers of the policemen. At the front, in his usual brown suit and dark green tie, was the police chief Soichiro, looking at a pad of paper that copied the design of everyone else. Fixing his squared glasses that shone the same color of his suit but with a more metallic sheen, the chief looked down at his paper. “Alright. Let's start with the tip line reports.”

“Yes sir,” said a man standing in the middle of the room to face the chief, and the other officer sitting next to him started to read from a paper. “Up to this point, we’ve received 3029 responses about the murders via telephone and email. Most of these have been curious citizens or prank calls, but there are fourteen people who claimed to either know Kira or have seen him. All fourteen accounts were followed up on and carefully documented. However,” there was always a however or a but, “Nobody could reveal any information that wasn't already publicly available. And lastly, this week there were an additional twenty-one people who called in claiming to  _ be  _ Kira.” The clear skepticism in the eyes of Soichiro and the other man next to him was plainly evident, sharing a look with each other before the chief cleared his throat, nodding for the presenter to finish his report. Anyone would do anything for their fifteen seconds of fame. However, nobody could provide any information that wasn’t already publicly available. “We didn't wanna rule anything out,” Of course not, even the wildest of claims have to be followed up on, protocol always won when it came to skepticism, “So we followed standard procedure and created files for all twenty-one of them,” The suited man finished, looking up from his paper.

“Uh-huh. Alright, on to the victim reports.”

The previous present sat down and another policeman stood up, “Yes sir. Upon further investigation, we have confirmed that information about the heart attack victims was in fact publicly available in Japan immediately prior to their deaths. Also,” The man's eyes suddenly flicked over, looking behind him without turning his head to where, in the darkness of the back of the room, the man who had previously been on stage during the initial bringing on of world renown detective L stood. Dressed in the same shady garb one might see on a drug dealer in a back alley behind a chicken food place, he sat at a desk, holding the same laptop, with the same fancily illustrated letter L on it. “Concerning L’s request that we investigate the time of death of each victim, we found that all of them occurred between the hours of 4 p.m. and 2 a.m. on weekdays, local time with 68% of them occurring between 8pm and 12 a.m. Weekends and holidays appeared to be the exception to this rule as the times of death vary much more widely than during the week.”

The glowing screen of the computer, its brightness the same harsh, oversaturated white of the fluorescent ceilings lights, spoke. The heavy modulation smooth with a faux deepness, a slight echo following the original speech closely, footsteps in the same place. “That information is extremely relevant for us. It suggests that, given the time's of death, our suspect could very well be a student.” Soichiro, along with all the other men in the greyed out office looked to the computer, eyebrows raising, men turning to look at each other with tilted heads and small noises evident of all their confusion, “Suggests that, given the times of death, our suspect could very well be a student.” The voice turned somewhat condescending as it described its deductions that the detective had made during the investigation of the killer, “Based on the fact Kira is only killing criminals, I think it's safe to assume that he is driven by a very idealistic notion of justice. It’s highly possible he may even aspire to be some sort of godlike figure. We’re dealing with an individual who has a very childish concept of right and wrong,” L’s last sentence served to add on to their earlier speculation of the killer being a student. The idea they might be dealing with a kid made the other officers look on it confusion and []hesitance, none of them had ever considered the possibility, although of course, it is  _ only _ a possibility, which the altered voice clarified upon, “Of course this is mere speculation at this point, but still I recommend you reexamine any assumption you've made as to whether or not our suspect could be a student. We must consider every possibility, this will be the shortest route to finding and arresting Kira. Please continue with your report.” 

The chief seemed lost in the words of the world-renowned detective for a moment before shaking himself from his thoughts. “Ah, yes, right. Does anyone else have something they’d like to add?” 

“Ah, yes, sir?’ A young voice in the back piped up, their hand-raising halfway like a kid unsure of his answer in school while the rest of the investigators went back to what they had been doing before, working silently and diligently. 

“What is it, Matsuda?"

Lowering his hand to stand up he looked at the chief, with large, brown eyes that represented the nativity of a doe watching a squirrel chase bugs in fresh spring dew. “Um, well I'm not saying this to support Kira, or to condone the murders,” He started defensively his head tilting down, both thoughtful and with shame, “But, in the last few days throughout the world, and especially here in Japan,” Matsuda looked back up, “We’ve observed the dramatic decrease in the number of violent crimes committed.” The other listeners in the green-wall room let out muffled groans, while the young officer looked around.

The chief leaned forward, loosely clasped hands of rough skin pressed to the bridge of his nose with closed eyes, “Well, I suppose it makes sense, we’ve suspected something like that would happen,’ Confirming to the young officer that the earlier groans of his fellow workers were ones of subtle annoyance at the man having not caught on to what they all had previously. “Anything else?” 

Matsuda's face dropped just as fast as he dropped back into his seat, letting out a soft, “No…” That trailed off.

Soichiro opened his eyes again and folded his arms back down, looking back through the rows of plastic tables filled with men in fold-out metal chairs to the laptop screen projecting the curved, fancy L that lit up the dark shadowed back of the room. “Well, that about sums up our report for today. L?”

“Thank you, everyone. I feel we’re one step closer to finding Kira, but, before I go, I'm afraid I have one additional request to make.” All of the team looked back to hear the new request from the detective. “This is directed to the team's investigation of the victims, Tv news, and the internet,” Workers from that section of the investigation perked up, glancing at each other as they listened to the request carefully, “I would like you to go back and a closer look at the  _ exact _ way in which the victim's identities were made public. Be as thorough as possible.” L had already begun to deduce the possible rules and restrictions to how one was killed, asking, “I want to know in particular if photos of the victims were made available to the public in Japan. I'll leave it to you.”

Outside the investigating room, the chief stretched from his long day in front of a window that looked out over the dark sleepy city, holding his bag in one hand. The long, deep brown coat draped over his form matched the suit he always wore. “Chief!” Matsuda's voice caused the man to turn his head, arms dropping to his sides as he saw the young, bright-eyed officer holding two coffee's in porcelain white mugs. “You look like you could use one of these,” Soichiro turned to comply face the other, taking one of the cups from the other's outstretched hand, “Sleepy much?”

“Thank you, Matsuda, that'll do the trick.” He took a sip from the bitter coffee, grateful for the shot of caffeinated energy it would give him. “I feel these late are starting to take their toll,” he admitted, rubbing sleepy eyes that dropped with bags that steadily darkened over the nights, 

Looking down at his own coffee cup solemnly, not taking a drink yet, Matsuda spoke what had been on his mind the entire rest of the night spent investigating. “About what I said earlier at the meeting. Well… now that I think about it, I'm sure everyone already knew that,” He said, in reference to his observation of the decreased criminal activity. The not so subtle looks and noises of annoyance burrowed their way through his self-confidence. “I wanted to apologize.”

The chief only looked at him in utter confusion, “What on earth are you talking about? Nobody said it’ll be easy to speak the truth, but it has to be done. Especially when it's something that isn't easy to say.” Matsuda lifted his head, looking with wide eyes. The chief took another sip of the coffee, letting out a humored smile, “Having said that, if you had gone on to say that we should commend Kira for doing such 

Matsuda started shaking his head frantically, black hair switching across his ears and neck while he also waved his hands up in front of his chest, “Oh, no. No, I wouldn't, that would never happen!” He stuttered out while the chief only chuckled.

“It's okay, I'm just kidding.”

Sayu cheered and hugged her sister tightly, their chairs bumping slightly “I knew I could count on you, Misa!” Misa smiled, kissing the top of Sayu’s forehead, brushing blond bangs across her sister's skin. 

“Anything for my little sister,” both of them drawing back as Misa pointed her pen back down at the problem book the other had gotten from school to work on, “So think you can try some by yourself now?” Her sister nodded, picking up her own pen.

“Yeah, I think I can.” A bell chimed and they both turned towards the source of the noise, Sayu pushing her chair back to stand up, “Oh, looks like Dad's home!” They could hear their parent's exchange muffled words of niceties downstairs. Sayu smiled, skipping to the wooden door, “He’s home really early today!” 

“Hey, why don't you at least try the last problem by yourself before you run off!” Misa called, turning all the way around in her chair just in time to see Sayu throw the door open and closed, her yellow dress disappearing down the hall to the stairs, the door shutting behind her with the click of the handle. She shook her head fondly with a soft smile, circling the last problem on the page for Sayu to do later, flicking the book closed, and setting it to the side of the desk, where it would be out of the way.

Ryuk watched the sisterly exchange from Misa’s bed, laying down like he always did, head propped up in one hand and legs stretched out across the black blankets, leaving no impression on the sheets. “Helping your sister with homework, you sure are relaxed.”

Misa glanced to his sprawled out position,  _ so are you, _ she thought to herself, rolling her eyes. “Well yeah, if the police really want to try to come after me, they'll find I'm pretty confident in my advantage.” Ryuk quirked an eyebrow up as Misa hummed to herself, following her sister's earlier path to downstairs. The shinigami was quite interested in what this advantage was supposed to be, floating after her. 

They stalled at the bottom of the stairs where her dad was bent down, taking off his shoes. “Hey, glad you could join us for dinner. Are you hungry?” She inquired innocently, her dad finishing with his shoes and turning to face her with a tired smile.

“Yeah, it's been a long day,” Soichiro responded.

They all sat around the table in the dining room, yellow walls that seemed a duller shade of the rotten gold of Ryuks eyes which watched the family eat, standing behind Misa with his bent posture. They were all eating sushi Misa’s mom made with multicolored chopsticks. Her dad paused after finishing one piece to address his daughter. “So, tell me Misa, how are your studies going?”

Misa smiled humbly, shrugging her shoulders, “Everythings okay, I guess.” 

Sayu let out a snort of laughter at that, bumping her sister with her shoulder, chopsticks still poised in the air, “Whatever, she’s at the top of her class, my big sisters a genius!” Misa giggled, nudging her back while taking a bite of some rice. 

Their mother watched their antics with pride, she felt so lucky to have gotten such a smart and studious daughter, it was so unfortunate to see other mothers with delinquent kids who only ran around and cause trouble. “That's my Misa, we’re all proud of you.” Her daughter rubbed the back of her neck in feigned bashfulness, leaning back in a wood chair that creaked slightly, she actually quite enjoyed the attention from her parents but to admit so would reflect poorly on her reputation, no one likes a bragger. Although bragging happened to be one of the many things she excelled at, silent of course but bragging nonetheless. As the topic of conversation moved on Misa could see the way her father's eyes dropped and his hand moved slowly, nothing like he had been before the Kira controversies, started to droop. Sure there had been other tough cases but nothing unsolvable, though, this was new and nothing like anything before. 

Misa’s eyes could only crinkle in subdued satisfaction, the police force clearly weren't making much headway. Putting on a face of concern she tilted her head, pressing the tops of her baby blue chopsticks that matched the corded telephone to her cheek, “Is everything okay, Dad? You look tired.” Her voice dripped with faux sympathy that none of the family could recognize as a farce.

Her father took another bite of food, nodding his head in agreement to her observations. “Yeah, I'm not able to say too much about it,” Like Misa didn't already know every detail, “But this case I'm working on right now is really tough.” Ryuk's eyes shined, realizing Misa’s ace card was her tired father.

Back up in the student turned killer’s room Ryuk situated himself on the bed, “So Daddys a policeman. That must be why you’re so confident?” His voice oozed in amusement. 

Misa giggled, flicking up a manicured fingernail and waving it around slightly and mimicking the bell of a gameshow, pitching her voice up, “Ding ding ding, point to you.” She dropped her finger back down to continue typing furiously on the computer, “It's so easy for me to hack into Dad’s computer,” She had found that bragging her skills to Ryuk was a wonderful way to laugh about her own genius, even if the shinigami’s face never showed any emotion. “We’re on a home network so I can just copy any file I want without a trace. Im practically a magician at this point, now you see it,” Misa used the pointer on the computer screen to draw a pixely yellow folder graphic into a dropbox, “Now you don't.” The file only took moments to download, the brilliant blue of the loading bar speeding across the screen. “This means I can keep track of their investigation,” She opened the file, a file that was supposed to be a top-secret investigation on a large criminal case where even the world's most famous detective had gotten involved, with a mere two clicks on her mouse. A pop-up asking for a password was quickly dismissed with quick strokes of her keyboard, the password had been as easy to find as it was to enter. The pop up closed and a screen filled the space of the computer screen with rows and rows of more mini folder graphics. 

Taking her time to read through everything newly reported, her eye caught on a particular part of the report. Leaning back with a small huff she pointed to the screen, “Look Ryuk, they’re already beginning to suspect a student.” 

The shinigami leaned forward, his arms on his legs, “Looks like you're in trouble then huh?” His croaking laughter grating on her nerves. Anytime she really needed to think about something, her macabre dolls always gave her an interesting visual. They were usually kept on one of her many shelves, lined up and done with much decor. But since she had started to think more carefully about her approach to problems when she received the Death Note she had started keeping them on her desk, their stuffed legs hanging off the side. She pulled one towards her, imaging the sneer of a criminal on its innocent, smiling pink face, and hatred in its empty button eyes. Mimicking a heart attack with it silently the gears in her brain began to whir with intense thought. “Ryuk, dear, if the cause of death is written within forty seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen right?”

“Yeah.”

“And if the cause is not specified, the person simply dies of a heart attack.”

“Uh, huh.”

“After writing the cause of death, details of the death can be written in the next six minutes and forty seconds.”

She propped up the doll one more time, spinning her finger in the hair like clock hands documenting the day “So, If I write that a heart attack will happen, then I can write down all the details of the heart attack, including the time of death can't I?” 

Misa maneuvered two other of the patchwork toys to do various things like kick a pretend soccer ball or eat a regular lunch. “So now, they’ll be dropping,” The ears of the pink rabbit fell across its face as it was pushed down, “While I'm just having an ordinary day at school…”

“What?” The sound of hands slamming onto a table sounded as Soichiro previously seated at a desk stood up, throwing his chair back. “I don't believe this, another twenty-three victims yesterday? Are these confirmed?” He probed, the two men in front of him standing slightly shocked at his outburst.

“Y-yes,” One of them stuttered out, everyone in the office watching the exchange.

“The day before, there were another twenty-three victims.” The new time frames had come the days after their initial discussion on the likelihood of the perpetrator being a student. “He’s killing one-off every hour  _ on _ the hour.”

One of the greys suited men in the office some up suggesting, “Considering this new pattern had been going on for two weekdays, it  _ does _ punch some holes in that theory that the suspect is a student.” The person next to him countering with the plausible factor of the killer simply skipping two days at school.

The aggravated voice of a heavily modulated voice broke their conversation, drawing attention to their laptop screen. “You’re missing the point. It does appear less likely now that Kira is a student, but that's not the message he’s sending by doing this.” L really had a hard time believing that out of everyone on the investigation force, none of them had seemed to grasp what was going on. Every hour, on the hour, this .wasn't just to throw off their suspects of a student, it was to prove a point. “Ask yourselves,  _ why _ every hour and  _ why _ are all these victims in prisons where they should be discovered immediately? Why not other criminals like before?” L and the task force already knew that Kira could kill from a distance, that's what made him so bold in his tactics. But, just killing from a distance wasn't enough, Kira had to show them he could time them as well, tell them they are hopeless in understanding how or when he will strike. “I believe Kira is telling us that not only can he kill from a distance, but he can also determine the time of death.”

Through the screen of L’s computer thoughts swirled and ideas formed and dissipated just as quickly, while Misa giggled away at her genius in her room.

L could tell something was wrong with the time change, not only was it a message that he could control time but something else.  _ As soon as we began to suspect that Kira might be a student, the pacings of the killings changed,  _ L could tell this was more than coincidence, this was a clear, quick, and outfight attempt to contradict their earlier theory.  _ Kira must have access to police information, it's obvious now... _ L’s eyes narrowed, as they nibbled on the nail of their thumb,  _ This, this is a direct challenge to me! _

In Misa’s room, her own speech proved L’s theory though they would never hear it. “I’d say L is probably starting to sweat a little by now,” Misa proclaimed boldly and with a self-satisfied smirk on her face Bragging really did feel good. Her head lolled back and forth leisurely as she layed on her bed, legs kicked up in the hair and arms clutching a pillow. To rest her chin against. “What’ll really make his job difficult is that I’ve deliberately left about fifty criminals alive for time like these.” Ryuk sitting on the bed next to her turned his head to show he was listening. Misa took this as a sign to continue, “If L really is as good as they say, by now he should be starting to suspect someone with connections to the police

And indeed they were, puzzling now over the new question that had arisen from the realization.  _ This is one fact that cannot be ignored. What does he get out of all this? What is he hoping to achieve? _

A question Ryuk gets an answer to by his question, “There's one thing I don't get. Showing them you have connections to the police make’s it easier for them to find you, than when they just suspected a student.”

“Well, dear Ryuk, my  _ real _ agenda is to get close to L.” She rolled onto her back, holding the pillow above her face, “So I can eliminate him,” Her smile widened as she squeezed the helpless pillow, like she was choking the life out of her enemies. 

“How are you gonna do that?”

Misa rolled her eyes, stuffing the pillow under her head and stretching out completely over the black blanketed bed. “You still don't understand human beings,” She knew she could never trust the shinigami to understand their customs, but as annoyed as she acted, she relished in the opportunity to explain, exerting her power in her genius. “In this world, there are very few people who actually trust each other. There's no difference in the police obviously. The investigators and L don't trust each other at all because that is the way of a human. I mean, no one could trust a person whose name and face th4ey don't know, that's like trusting the shadow in your closet. When L discovers I'm getting confidential information, he knows he’ll need to start investigating the police to find the source of the leak.” She closed her eyes, soaking in her imagined scenario with pleasure, “THe police will begin to resent him. On the surface, it’ll look like they’re working together to catch me, but really they’ll be investigating each other.” Misa let out an exaggerated yawn, “I'm not going to find L, the police will do it for me, and when they do,” Her eyelids opened slowly, like they had all the weight of the world on them, “I'm going to kill him.”

“What’s this about?” The chief demanded angrily, from his position at his desk. Three of his men stood in a line in front of him, each having laid an envelope with their names clearly marked in black pen on the front of the pristine white paper. They had come in that day walking together, straight through the revolving doors at the front lobby, up the elevator that whirred and dinged, and into the investigations office to Soichiro's desk to lay down their demands. 

“With all due respect, Chief, we are resigning,” The man in the middle spoke levelly, to a gasp from the other officers in the room, some even standing up in their shock. The rustling of papers went still, pens stopped writing and everyone's face turned to the three at the front. “We demand that you assign us a different case,” The leader of the renegades tapped the envelopes laid neatly in perfect spaced order, as perfect as they had been in their work previously on the case, “Otherwise you can have our badges right here and now.” The room seemed to get darker, despite the gleaming sun still high overhead and peering into the room to watch their work.

Soichiro could only maintain his look of complete disbelief, “Why? You are good cops!” He had worked with them long enough to know their work was always on time and insights clever. 

“Isn't it clear?” Black brows furrowed and the gaze on his chief narrowed sharply, “We value our lives, sir.” The room was already as quiet as a forgotten grave at the back of a church graveyard at 4 am on a Wednesday night, but their words seemed to suck out even the subtle sounds of breathing and clothes rustling. The other two spoke up to add onto their friend's words. 

“If what L says is true, Kira has some ESP-like power that somehow allows him to kill people indirectly from anywhere.”

“Well, if I were Kira, sir, I’d probably wanna try to get rid of the people who are trying to catch me.”

“Let’s face it, he knows he will be sentenced to death if he’s caught.”

“We all sat here and watched when L decided to pull that  _ media stunt _ and challenge Kira to kill him. It was all very impressive at the time, but again L never had to show his face or reveal his name for that matter.” His words were filled with scorn, and a clear embodiment of the distrust that had blossomed in the cracks of the police's relationship with the greatest detective. The image of the investigation was like that of a canary yellow dandelion growing under a sunset, mistaken to be a flower in passing, but when inspected closer was nothing but a weed digging its roots into a sidewalk crack that would serve to unsteady the ground beneath it, and break down something that once served to be solid. There is no trust in a masquerade ball. “I'm sure you can recall L’s last request? He asked that we take a closer look at how these victims' identities were made public. And specifically to determine whether photos of the victims were available to the public prior to their deaths.” The chief flinched slightly as the man in the middle slammed his hands down on the table and leaned forward, “Well, it turns out he was right!” Every single one of those victims’ names and photos was broadcast to the Japanese public and  _ then they died.” _ Straightening back up he turned his head to look directly at the laptop screen in the back of the room, nothing but pure hatred in his eyes, “Unlike someone we know, we are out there investigating this case wearing police ids with our names and photos on them.  _ Anybody _ with a computer can find out who we are.” Poison dripped out of his voice, “ _ We _ don't hide our face.  _ We’re _ out in the open.” He wished so that he could see how the unknown man was reacting, but the screen remained mockingly the same. There is no emotion to be seen from a man hidden behind a screen.

The one on the right of the line of resignees spoke much calmer, trying to seem less harsh compared to the outburst of his friend. “Sir, the truth is, we could be killed by Kira at any time.”

“For these reasons, we refuse to continue working on this case.” All three bowed respectfully with their hands straight at their sides before turning and walking off, ignoring the Chiefs outburst telling them to stop. The click of the door closing was his only response.

Ryuk suddenly looked up from where he had been trying to pass the time of Misa’s boring cram school class by studying all the students in the room. Something wasn't right to him. Walking down the aisle of the class, past an indifferent Misa who was half-heartedly paying attention to the dronings of their teacher. The shinigami made it to the back of the classroom where large windows let in the night. Sharp red eyes traversed the outside before spotting a shadow, the change in shades so subtle only someone with a heightened perception like him would have been able to pick up. Someone was watching the school. The shinigami thought back to Misa saying they would soon suspect someone with contact with the police. They weren't watching the school, they were watching  _ Misa _

In the shadows of L’s room, Watari spoke to them through their monitor, black that engulfed the man making the monitor look like it was almost turned off. “I brought the FBI to Japan four days ago. They are fully operational. As requested they are now gathering intel of the police.”

The detective looked down at the small stack of papers. Each paper had a person, with their full name, a face ID, and a description about them, their life, and how they connected to one of the officers on the investigation team. “This is the completed list?” Watari confirmed with a yes and the detective fanned the papers out to glance over them quickly.  _ There are a hundred and forty-one people in the police force who have access to classified information regarding the investigation. I’m sure somewhere in this list of the police officers and the people closest to them,  _ L threw down the papers, one of them from the bottom sliding outwards to show the face of a smiling girl with blond hair,  _ we will find our suspect _ . 

“Misa, you got a second?” The student rolled their eyes, how many times would she have to explain this to her shinigami stalker. 

“I've already told you, Dear Ryuk, you can't talk to me in public, it'll make people think I'm weird.” Although their walk home was usually devoid of people, as they took a residential trail instead of one through the city. But still, anyone happening to be passing by in the dead of night would be totally freaked out by some girl talking to themselves like a crazy person. Misa  _ did not _ want to look like a crazy person.

Ryuk didn't listen though, floating just inches behind her, too lazy to walk and preferring his rotting wings to carry him around at times. “In that case, I’ll talk, you just listen. I don't want to hear me, you can plug your ears or something.” Misa thought about doing just that but she was already tired from her class and \didn't care to have to walk the whole way home with her finger crooked into her ears. “First of all, I don't have anything against you.”  _ Okay, strange way to start out _ the blonde-haired student thought, usually Ryuks ramblings were either nonsense or just questions. “I actually think the notebook couldn't have been picked up by a better person.” Misa let out a small smile at the praise but it was only for a moment, Ryuk was acting strange and she just wanted to know where exactly this conversation, well it wasn't really a conversation, but she wanted to know where this was going to go. I’m here 'cause I have to stick around till the death note is finished or I see you die, whichever comes first. But make no mistake, Light. I’m not on your side or L’s side.”

_ Really? Was that really all he needed to say?  _ “Yeah, well I already knew that Ryukie, I'm not blind yah know.”

“You’ll never hear me say anything about whether what you’re doing is right or wrong. I’m not here to support you or give you my opinion. I’m just a spectator. _ But  _ as your roommate, I might have a few things to say now and then.”

Misa was starting to get annoyed, maybe she should have plugged her ears, “Are you just going to keep saying the same stuff? 

“It’s just that I’m no ally of yours or Kira’s if you prefer, the only reason I’m going to tell you this is because personally, it is starting to creep me out.”

Misa growled lowly, “Oh just get to the point already.” She wanted to yell but that would draw attention, and she didn't need to add explaining why she was yelling at the night air to her list of reasons to be annoyed and tired today. 

The shinigami let out one of his patented rasping laughs, “You are being followed by another human. He’s watching you right now.”

Misa’s footsteps stalled, and she stopped in her tracks, eyes widening slightly. She had said earlier she wasn't blind but maybe all the stress had been getting to her. Lowering her head slightly and watching the pavement of the sidewalk she could hear it now, without her footfalls and breathing. A quiet footstep knocking against grit and gravel, that started then retreated. For a few more moments the neighborhood when silent, making the distance sounds of construction that buzzed in her ear sound exponentially louder. Misa calmed her shaking hands, and stepped forward again,  _ stupid, don't stop next time that was such a dead giveaway _ . 

“It's really starting to get on my nerves.” The shinigami sounded like a whining child, “I realize there’s no way he can see me, but because I’m always following behind you wherever you go, I feel like I’m constantly being watched.”  _ Now you know how it feels _ .

“That's a problem. I’ll have to get rid of him as soon as possible…”

In her room, Misa started to ask the questions that arose.  _ Who would be following me? Does this mean L already is suspecting the police? We would need so many resources and manpower. Even if he has as many as fifty people on the case, they really could ever figure out that I'm Kira.  _ Misa pulled back slightly the black lace curtains that her Mom said looked like a mourning veil when she bought them for her. She found it silly at the time but now she did see them as such in her newfound position as the grim reaper.  _ I shouldn't look like anything other than your average high school senior. But the longer I let this person keep following me, the greater the chance is they’ll figure out who I really am. Above all, I need my stalker’s name. Once I figured that out, I can get rid of him for good. _

“Misa.” The student turned, letting go of the curtain. “I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.”  _ Secret huh? _ “What makes a Shinigami and a human who has a death note different?” Ryuk helps up two clawed fingers covered in a satin fabric that Misa still wasn't sure was part of his body or counted as crudely fashioned clothes. “Well, there are two things. And why do Shinigami have to write the names of humans in their death notes? Any Ideas.”

Misa watched him carefully, sitting in her desk chair, “Of course I don't, there's no way I could know. You know, you sure are talkative today.”

“It’s because we are able to take human life spans for ourselves.”

Misa leaned forward,  _ very _ interested in this conversation now. “What do you mean?”

Ryuk decided an example would work best for this. “Let's say you have a human who is due to living until the age of sixty,” The shinigami held up six fingers this time,” and a god of death wrote that this person would die at forty,” Four went down, “Sixty minus forty equals twenty, now those twenty years are taken from someone in the human world,” He pointed his fingers at Misa before turning them around to point at himself, “And added that god of deaths life.” Misa gave a subtle end to show she understood before Ryuk continued his tale. “So it means that as long as we don’t slack off, even if someone was to shoot us in the head or stab us in the heart with a knife, a god of death cannot die. On the other hand, if  _ you _ write in your death note, your life span will not increase. That's the first difference between gods of death and humans who possess a death note.”

Smiling she leaned her head onto her hand, propping it up on the desk. “Interesting, haven't heard that about a Shinigami before. So then what's the second?”

“The second difference between us will probably be of even greater interest to you. Though this has less to do with lengthening life and more to do with cutting it short.”

“Cutting whose short?”

Ryuk leaned forward suddenly, causing Misa to jerk back as he invaded her space. “Shinigami can tell what the person’s name is by just looking at their face. We know instantly. And do you have any idea why?” Ryuk pointed at his bulging eyes, the red of his iris bleeding into the sickly yellow that should have been white Because through Shinigami's eyes a human’s name can be seen above their head. Not only that, we can see their life span as well.”

Misa’s eyes widened to rival those of Ryuks, seeing herself in the reflection in the shinigami eye. “Their name  _ and _ lifespan?”

“That's writing, I'm able to see your name and life span right now,” Ryuk leaned back away from her to look above her head better were red letters and numbers floated, like goldfish swimming in the glass bowl of a prize for a children's carnival game, “If I converted that to human time I could tell you how many years you got left. But there’s no way I’d ever tell you that. I may have a big mouth but even I wouldn’t go that far.” His laugh reminded her of those villains in movies. “Shinigami never have to worry that they won’t be able to kill a person just because they don’t know their name. And every time we do take a life we always know exactly how many years we are going to receive. Our eyes just aren’t the same and that is the difference between you and I. However, if a Shinigami drops his death note and a human picks it up, he can grant that human the eyes of Shinigami,” Misa looked up with surprise, the thought of such power... “But only if a deal is made, one that has been with us since ancient times.”

“What's the deal?” She demanded breathlessly, standing up so quickly her chair flew back with the queal of its metal wheels. 

“The price for having a Shinigamis eye is half of that person's remaining life span. That's all it is.” He spoke dismissively like half your lifespan was a trivial thing.

“Half of my remaining life span.” A cold bead of sweat dripped down her face.

“Yeah. In other words, if you are supposed to live another fifty years, it’ll be twenty-five. If it was one more year, then six months.

“I see. And since you’ve made it clear you’re not on anyone’s side, you won’t help me out. You wouldn’t just give me the names of people I want to kill. Basically, you are saying that I can’t simply borrow your powers. I’d have to pay for them.”

“That’s right. It’s a key part of the code that all Shinigami are bound by. I’ll say this once more. Give me half your remaining life span, and I’ll give you the Shinigami eyes.

“If I agree,” A large maniac grin spread across her face, so much power. She truly would be a god if she got the eyes. She wouldn't have to bother with clever tricks or hours of research, she could glance at them for just a moment and know everything she needed to end their life. So easy. Just like that. “I’ll be able to know everyone’s name just by looking at them.” 

The shinigami could tell he had her, hook, line, and sinker. “So what'll it be, Misa. Is it a deal?”

  
  



	4. Pursuit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I apologize for this taking so long, I kept forgetting to post it. This is February’s update  
> *For some reason my indents never show up right so it’s going to be harder to read then usual, I apologize.  
> *No notable changes

Misa just had to confirm it to herself as she mulled over the decision of a lifetime. “So, the only price to get the eyes is to give half my life span?”  
“That's right, so, do we have a deal or not?”  
“Ryuk.” The named lips curled up ever so slightly, as Misa’s voice grew quiet. Sitting in the dark of the room, the shinigami looked far more devilish than his usually goofy appearance would be in the day. Moments like these truly made it clear just where this devil came from, and cemented their powers, and thus with it, the trickery. While Misa could believe that all there was to it, and the allure of the power was strong… ”Not gonna happen.” She said with a shake of her head, the golden straw strands of her hair bouncing with the sharp turns.  
The face of the death god contorted with confusion, Ryuk letting out a “Huh?”  
Misa turned back to him, her normally round and wide eyes narrowed sharper than a knife. Pointing a perfectly manicured finger at her death stalker she started in on one of the speeches she prided herself on, though the shinigami felt it was just cleverly disguised nagging. “I'm going to spell it out for you one more time! I'm gonna create a new world, one without evil or criminals. And I'm gonna rule that world as a gone for a super long time. No way in hell am I going to take a deal that would shorten my precious life span, I've told you a thousand times my plan! How could you still expect me to take a deal like that?” Rant over she sat back in a huff, crossing her arms.  
“Yeah,” The sound of disappointment was evident in a rasping voice, “But I still felt I should tell you existed just in case. Anyway, I've done my part, I don't need you complaining that I didn't tell you early on.”  
Misa turned her head sharply to face him again, much too offended than she had any reasonable right to be. “When have I ever complained to you!” She professed, standing up her hands on her hips in defiance. “And you call this telling me early on? It's been like, forever since I met you, why didn't you tell me then!” She whirled on her heel swiping the Death Note off her desk and opening it to the cover, shoving it up to his face to see, as if he wasn't the one who had been carrying it up until recently. “Or, you could have just written it in here too!”  
“Oh, uh good point.”  
“Damn right it's a good point!”  
As his forced companion continued her tangent, Ryuk couldn't help but ever so slightly admire the tenacity of her bluntness. She’s not the least bit daunted that I'm a Shinigami. She doesn't try to suck up to me either like she does her teachers, in fact, seems she has no trouble giving me a hard time.  
His thoughts were interrupted by Misa waving a hand in front of his face and he quickly refocused on the “conversation” if it could be even called that. “Well? Anything else you wanna tell me ahead of time Ryukie?”  
“No nothing else. Probably.”  
“Really? that's too bad,” She murmured, standing up and turning the last little light she had on in the room.  
“What do you mean?”  
The student walked past Ryuk, flopping onto her bed and hugging a pillow to her chest. The Death notes black cover blending in perfectly to her black bed blankets. “You know Ryuk, I might have seriously considered the deal if you’d offered me wings instead of eyes.” Misa lifted a hand over her head, stretching it out in front of her. “Just the idea of flying around in the sky sounds so god-like,” She murmured with earnest, waving the hand around to mimic the flutterings of feathers and flapping of wings. Misa could imagine it now, coming down on the city to her adoring subjects on wings larger than life, pure white and shimmering with gold, like that of an angel. She would be revered by those loyal and feared by the evildoers. “It would be perfect,” the wistfulness in her voice evident.  
“You’d stand out if you sprouted wings and flew around, and the police could find you no problem.”  
She turned a glare at the interruption, dropping her hand back down to the bed. “I was only joking. Besides,” her tone became much lighter as she rolled over onto her stomach and twisted around on the plush bed sheets to face Ryuk better. “If I keep bargaining for eyes and wings, I might end up looking like a shinigami myself.” The thought of looking like Ryuk would put a shiver down anyone's spine, although the jab seemed to have gone over his head.  
“Even without eyes and wings, you’re already worthy enough to be a shinigami.” She quirked an eyebrow at him, somewhat confused. “The shinigami realm is slowly rotting. We lead meaningless and empty lives, and the only reason we take humans' lives is because we are afraid to die ourselves. The truth is that we don't even know why we exist anymore, in fact, I doubt there's any reason for our existence at all. What I'm saying is, compared to that, you are becoming a much more impressive Shinigami.”  
The idea of being more impressive than an actual Death god did sound rather appealing although, “It seems like I'm doing far more work than they are. In fact,” Misa sat up, discarding her pillow to the side, “I don't want to be compared to a Shinigami. I'm using the Death Note,” Her fingers twitched towards the book just by the mention of its name, “To make a better world for humans. But, I wouldn't necessarily say that the Shinigami realm is meaningless to humans either.”  
“Huh? Why do you say that?”  
Her voice turned soft and kind, like the voice she would use to talk to her sister, “I mean think about it, whenever a Shinigami, like you dear Ryuk, comes to this world every hundred, no more like every thousand or so years, the humane world changes dramatically. The existence of your realm is extremely significant.”  
“Really?” The idea that the pile of bones and decaying sludge that was his home was important seemed entirely laughable, but Misa said with so much earnest it felt possible.  
“You said the Shinigami realm is rotting right? Well, when you go back why don't you take what you learned and change it for the better?”  
“Well Misa, I'm not sure why I never noticed until now, but you are quite the positive thinker.”  
She smiled with a giggle, “Yeah duh, of course, I am. You have to be a positive thinker to attempt changing the world.” During the talk she had been absentmindedly flipping through the pages of the notebook, brushing her fingers proudly over the many names that line the papers. Reaching the end she flipped back to the front cover, where the initial rules of the note had been listed. Reading the rules again lazily her eyes widened with a small gasp, “That's it, I got it!”  
Misa hopped up from her bed, bouncing with quick steps, like a bunny in spring, over to her desk. “Got what? What's this about?” Ryuk asked, following her as she flipped her desk lamp back on, slapping the book down open onto the desk.  
“I figured out how to find the death of the guy who was following me today.”  
The topics had changed wildly and Ryuk still needed a minute to catch up, “How are you gonna do that?”  
“By using the rules of the note to my advantage.” Playing by the rules was always more fun when they were filled with loopholes. “I already know that if I write down a cause of death, I’ve got 6 minutes and 40 seconds to record the conditions and exact time of death. First, though, I need to know how far I can go in terms of specifying the details of the death.”

The next morning the bright sun of a new day shined starkly against the office building of the police station. Rays of light grabbing at the blinds that covered the chief's office, slipping through small cracks and pooling in small portions. The light that got through was small and in scattered amounts, dappling across the green desk like an old turtle napping under a tree that shook with life. The ringing of a phone interrupted the chief's concentration on yet another of the massive amounts of reports that would pile up in the task force's office each day. Picking it up, he avoided tangling the curling cord and put it to his ear, continuing to read one of the papers spread before him. “Yeah, it's me.” Another six inmates were found dead last night?” The heads of the other investigators turned to listen in on the convo. “All heart attacks? It's him.” Another moment of silence followed as the caller on the other end relayed a mind-boggling bit of news. “What? Bizarre behavior before they died?” Soichiro asked in disbelief. “Could you be more specific? What do you mean? So they addition just dire from heart attacks?”  
In another room somewhere else the original caller was slid a picture by the man next to him. “No, what I'm saying is they all died from heart attacks but It wasn't quite that simple. Before one of them died, he drew a pentagram on the wall of his cell using his own blood.” The pictures provided disturbing details of the bloodied wall. The pentagrams points and encapsulating circle dripping down in a gruesome display. “Another left a letter but it doesn't seem to be a will or anything meaningful. And the third victim escaped his cell and ran all the way to the staff bathrooms before he died.”

The buzz of a call from L’s computer alerted the owner, who moved to sit down in front of the glowing screen. Accepting the call with the click of the mouse they put a pair of mic'd headphones over their ear. “What is it Watari?”  
“Three more heart attack victims.” Expected. “But the circumstances of their deaths are different from what we’ve seen so far.” Not expected.  
“What do you mean different?”  
“I’m sending you a copy of a letter as well as pictures taken at the scene.”  
Digital photocopies of each thing appeared on their screen, and L quickly read through the letter. It sounds like he was afraid that Kira would find him. It's believable that our victim might've been genuinely afraid and wrote this. But, we know Kira can control the time of death… or what if he can also determine the actions in the moments leading up to death. In which case…  
”Chief,” The sound of the modulated voice the task force had grown accustomed to hearing randomly spout off out of nowhere called Soichiro to attention. “We can't release details of these men’s death to the media. As far as they are concerned, these are just heart attacks. There is reason to believe that Kira was performing some kind of test using these criminals. If that's the case. We’d only be giving him results if this information is leaked to the public.”  
“Right, I understand.”  
One of the other task force operatives spoke, “So now he is experimenting on his Victims?”  
“Horrible,” Another answered.  
The chief agreed, “He is playing with people’s lives as if all this was just a game.  
It’s unforgivable.”  
L had already tuned out the conversation, they had far more important things to ponder about. If Kira really is using criminals as test subjects, then what is he trying to achieve.

Back in her room, Misa was looking through the new information she had downloaded off her dad's computer. Bringing up the most recent data she couldn't help but smirk at the pictures put out before her. “Look at this Ryuk, I think we’re in luck. The results of my little test have already been put on my Dad’s computer. And it's just as I expected. The death note will work for what I have in mind.”  
Her monitor's light was one of the only sufficiently bright ones in the room, causing a stark shadow of Misa to flow across her bedroom walls, as large and menacing as any shinigami form should be. Although the real death god in the room wasn't capable of a shadow in the human realm. “What do you mean?”  
”The first three inmates did exactly as I wanted them to do. One of them escaped and ran into the bathroom I had specified in the death note.” The picture of the corpse's dark blue jumpsuit provided a sharp contrast to the dull yellowed tiles of the bathroom. "Another drew the same symbol I had drawn in the death note before he died, and finally the third wrote the same letter I had written in the death note word for word. And then the other three deaths I purposely wrote conditions that were virtually impossible.”  
“Huh?”  
“With the first one, I wrote that he would die in front of the Eiffel tower in one hour. However, everyone knows that it is physically impossible to go from a prison in Japan to Paris, France in only one hour. Since this couldn’t happen, he simply died of a heart condition in prison. The next was supposed to draw an exact picture of L’s face on the prison wall. This also didn’t happen, because you can’t draw someone you’ve never seen, right?  
“Makes sense.”  
“The last one I wrote something a little different. I put that he would write a note, “I know that L is suspicious of the Japanese police.” To be honest I expected this one to work. But it didn't end up happening. This means it's impossible to make someone write what they don't already know. Or,” She said with a shrug, “It has to be something they could come up with on their own. Basically, even the death note can't do something impossible. But as long as it’s within the realistic limits of what a person might do, I can control them as much as I want before they die.”  
“That’s very clever,” Said Ryuk, “But what's all this leading to? What's the point?” The shinigami asked, leaning forward on Misa’s bed, the light of the window next to him making his ash-grey skin appear a sickly ivory white.  
Misa turned in her chair, slinging a leg over one of the armrests and resting her arms on her stomach. “Well, these latest victims are totally going to keep L and the police guessing.” She pointed out the window, where the bustling city lay, and somewhere, out in that concrete jungle, was L, her newest, and deadliest rival. No more was this playing cops and robbers on the schoolyard, this was real. “Even as we speak. He’s probably trying to decipher those clues I left,” Misa jabbed a thumb at the screen where the small note she had forced one of the victims to write was still on display. “Especially that note there, an absolutely meaningless one.”  
And right Misa was, as in the dark of their room, with only the computer to light the hunched position of the world's greatest thinker. “If Kira used those criminals to conduct an experiment of some sort, it means he’s about to start something. But If he moves now, there’s a good chance that the FBI would notice someone acting suspiciously. Which means…” Their eyes lit with a faint glow as they scrutinized the contents on their monitor further. “Perhaps he has a different goal in mind altogether, could the letter and pentagram hold some kind of message?” And then… ”Ha, is this it?” Along the message, the first kanji of each line…  
Misa looked out the window, her lithe fingers grasping the pulled-back curtains. Scouring the land before her she could find no person of suspicion, but then again, if she could her stalker probably wouldn't have gotten the job. “Well, time for the real thing now.” Her giggles brought the attention of Ryuk, who watched her slink back into her chair, bringing up a news page on her computer.  
“Real thing?”  
Carving the details of his face into her mind, she pulled a pen out from the wire cup on the side of her desk. “Yesterday on the news,” She explained, opening the Death Note after carefully removing it from her desk trap,” They said this drug addict tried to rob a bank but he wasn't successful.” Ryuk could see her scratching feverishly into the Death Note. Writing much too many words to simply be putting in his name or a simple death. This was her plan, set into motion from the moment the ebony ink of the pen dripped onto the deadly pages of the note. “He attacked a few p[eople and then ran away empty-handed, I’ll use him.” Misa flipped the note close, setting it back into her drawer for safekeeping, although not before ripping a page out of the note, an action that sparks Ryuk's interest, although he doesn't say anything. She pulled out a black flip phone, looking through her contacts. “It's kinda last minute but I know I can find someone.”  
Now, this was just getting confusing for the Shinigami. Ryuk was used to Misa explaining in a very roundabout and vague way but this was just ridiculous. “A few people? For what?”  
Misa smirked as she found a name on her contacts that took her interest. “You’ll see!” The smugness in her voice was far too evident and Ryuk decided to leave it at that. He didn't need her to get any more pretentious than she was. “You know Ryuk, I'm actually a pretty popular girl.” That was something he could believe, top of her class, social, pretty, there were many reasons for Misa to be known. Brushing aside a teddy bear keychain attached to the phone she put the phone up to her ear, a few rings sounding out.  
And on the other end, a voice answered, “Hello? Misa? Oh, morning.”

The chattering of people surrounded Misa as she walked. Many people were out on this beautiful sunny day, including her FBI agent follower. He’s still following me. Perfect. This whole thing would just be a waste of time if he wasn't tailing me.  
A bus kicked up dust on a road as she walked toward a boy standing alone by a bus station, the bus shelter placing a shade over his features. They were checking their phone but looked up at the approaching sound of Misa’s footsteps down the red stairs close by from an overhanging sidewalk. He turned, waving at her and calling her name excitedly, and she made sure to give him a nice smile, waving back as she approached.  
Ryuk could only hover behind her with uncharacteristic disbelief in his voice. “A date?”  
“Mhmm!” She kept her voice low, they were in public now after all. “It's a date no matter which way you look at it. And that agent is sure to see it that way as well.”  
“But this isn't just a date is it?” The dirty yellowed eyes of Ryuk watched her face closely, looking for a hint to her plan. “You said that you’d figured out a way to find your stalker’s name. So tell me, what do you plan on doing?”  
She rolled her eyes, “Didn’t you see what I wrote in the Death Note? I explained it in great detail.” Misa was sure he would be peering over her shoulder every time she wrote in the note. But watching the student write names in the note had gotten old after just a few times watching her do it.  
“No. Doing that would take all the fun out of it.”  
”Well, then what's the point of asking me now?” Misa stopped talking as she got closer to her fake date. “Sorry, did I keep you waiting?”  
“No, not at all!”  
Misa turned on the charm and girlish factor much higher than usual, as she bounced forward towards Yury. “That's good, I don't wanna be late to my own date! Anyways, I haven't been to Spaceland since Junior high, it'll be so nice to go with someone.” She wrapped an arm around the boys, cuddling up to him. “I'm so excited!”  
Yurys face flushed slightly at her, “Uh, y-yeah,” He stuttered as she pulled him back under the bus shelter. While in the shadow under the crimson red stairs Misa had descended from minutes earlier the agent tasked with following her watched. During the week he goes to school and cram school at night. Dates on his day off. Misa and Yury chatted together silently, a completely normal date. A normal kid, just a hard-working senior in high school. The agent wrote into a small notebook, Chief Yagami’s son, Light Yagami. No cause for suspicion. The hiss of a bus alerted him and he set the notebook back into his pocket, watching the two climb onto the bus, the spring green of its paint reflecting brightly a new day, the last day. At any rate, I’ll be done with my surveillance today. And that’ll be it. Then he moved to follow them on.

Yury glanced out the window as buildings and people blurred by, turning back to Misa. “You know, Misa, I thought you said you weren't going out until entrance exams were over?” Misa giggled, smiling brightly as a few strands of her hair shivered by the wind created by a man walking past them. There he is, just as expected, She thought to herself, the grey trench coat blotting the corner of her eye.  
“Yeah, but that was before I scored number one on the national practical exams.”  
"Ah, you're such a nerd!"

The ride was a peaceful one, a glittering river shining under the high sun, reflected off the windows of a distant city. The grinding of gravel and grit from the pavement under the bus wheels provided a loud noise cover for Misa and Yury to talk easily without people overhearing. There was a slight tinkling from the ceiling handles for anyone who needed to stand, their metal curve swinging freely in a gentle sway from leather straps. A perfectly normal date filled with perfectly normal people on a perfectly normal day… and a perfect plan.  
The bus would stop and a man in dark clothes would lumber onto the bus's steps. Misa’s eyes instantly recognized the face of her testee. It's him, he’s here. Misa quickly counted the passengers as the man walked towards the busses front, by the driver. Seven passengers excluding him, no ones in the way, everything should go smoothly. The criminal suddenly reached into his pocket, cocking a gun and putting it to the driver's temple making the driver gasp. “Stay in your seats unless you want to die!” The criminal yelled with a crazed grin on his face. The passengers of the bus began letting out gasps and terror stirred the crowd. The FBI agent could only watch in disbelief as the last day of his surveillance was so rudely shaken by this new disturbance. A bus jacking? You gotta be kidding me.  
“Everybody shut up! If anybody moves, I'm putting a bullet in their head! All right, driver, you listen to me. I know you’ve got the number for Spaceland’s office on you. Call’em!”  
The driver immediately compiled, reaching for the phone hooked up to the bus.  
“This-this is Sasaki, calling from bus 174.”  
“Tell’em what’s goin’ on and no tricks, either,” The criminal demanded.  
“My bus’s been hijacked. And he’s holding a gun to my head,” The driver managed shakily.  
“Give me that,” The man took the device to talk himself, “You heard what he said. Now you listen up,” He yelled into the corded phone, turning to point the gun at all the bus passengers. Have a female staff member bring all of Spaceland’s cash from yesterday. I know it’s there. Have her meet us at bus stops from the park and don’t make me wait. If you mess with me at all or try to get the police involved, I swear I’ll kill every one of these passengers!” With a grunt he threw down the device, smashing it with his foot as the bus passengers whimpered in terror, clinging onto each other.  
Yury was clearly shaken, clasping his hands together next to her. Misa leaned over, taking one of his hands in her own, and holding out a piece of paper to him she had written on. It read: Yury, don't be scared. As soon as he turns around, I'm gonna grab the gun out of his hand. The boy looked at her with terrified wonder and she gave him a reassuring smile as the Fbi agent behind them leaned forward to whisper to them.  
“Don’t be stupid. That’s risky,” This plan was turning out to be working like a charm. “If it comes to that, I’ll take care of it” Misa narrowed her eyes in faux suspicion, starting to write on another piece of paper. “.It’s OK. We don’t have to pass notes back and forth,” He said lowly, the gravel of the roads crunching under tires that jostled the bus. It was true, the clanking of the bus was quite loud and they were on the complete opposite sides of the bus from the criminal.  
Crumpling up the note she had started to write in Misa put it into her coat pocket. She instead leaned back turning her head ever so slightly, “Do you have any proof that you are not his accomplice? Why should we trust you?” The FBI agent's eyes widened in surprise as Yury looked at Misa with confusion.  
“Accomplice?” He murmured.  
“Yes. I’ve read about this before. The first hijacker comes in like he is working alone. Meanwhile, a second one pretends to be a hostage and stays in the very back just in case something goes wrong.” This isn't good, The FBI agent thought I need them to trust me but…  
Yury leaned in closer to Misa, his voice as quiet as the wind in an abandoned ghost down. “You-you really think he is one?”  
I...I have no choice. The agent decided, I’m sure Misa Amane isn’t Kira. If she was, she could just kill this guy with a heart attack. With reluctance, he reached his badge over, flipped up to show his Id. “Here’s my proof. Take a look.”  
Misa took the badge, fighting off a smile while her eyes sparkled. FBI… I see. L needed an outsider so he got the FBI to investigate anyone connected to the Japanese police. Her eyes locked onto the name listed under his ID picture, His name is Raye Penber. She burned the name and face to her mind as she had down with all of her victims. “Alright, I trust you,” She said, handing the badge back to the agent. And I guess for the time being I won’t bother asking what an FBI agent is doing on the bus in the first place,” She added, making sure she didn't seem too placid, this was supposed to be a surprise bus jacking after all.  
“Do you have a gun?”  
“Yeah. I’ve got one.:  
“So if it comes down to it, I can rely on you, right?”  
“Yes.”  
“Shut the hell up, you old hag!” The hijacker suddenly yelled, sticking the gun towards an old woman and her husband, “You want me to shoot you right now?”  
Raye Penber watched the scene with sharp eyes, recognition flooding his senses. That’s right. This guy. His face was all over the local news just a few days ago He continued to yell at the terrified passengers in the background. Some junkie. He tried to rob a bank, ended up killing three people before he got away. He’s extremely dangerous.  
While the agent stressed over the situation silently, Misa was celebrating an imminent victory. We’re safe, he won't shoot us. In fact, he’s not gonna do anything. She pulled her hand out of her pocket, acting as if to go hold Yury's hand for comfort, the crumpled piece of paper she had written on earlier falling to the metal ground with a rustle. She feigned shock, leaning down to reach for it, the man immediately turned to them with a yell, “Don't move, you little punk!” He yelled, brandishing the gun wildly. Her fingers were frozen just a few inches from the paper as she turned to look at the man, widening her eyes and trying to look scared. The criminal's eyes went to the paper as he advanced with a crazed look in his eye, jabbing the gun at Misa’s face. She could feel Yury's grip on her other hand tighten and she tried to squeeze it back reassuringly. “What the hell is that? Hey, a smart-ass. You guys were planning something back here, weren't you?” He accused them, picking up the paper.  
Damn it, Raye regarded the paper with subdued fear, If he sees that note from before, he’ll find out that Misa was planning to jump him and take his gun away. The hijacker unfolded the crumpled note, disappointment in his eyes, “Plans for a date huh? Stupid kid.” He started to walk back towards the front, tossing the paper behind him at Misa. She caught it easily, a subtle smile gracing her lips. Gotcha, She thought to herself.  
Misa kicked lightly at the bus seat's legs, making a small noise. The hijacker looked back to find its source but was met with something much worse. He whipped around completely, stumbling back and eyes wide. He lifted the gun up, pointing to the wall at the back of the bus, “W-who the hell are you? You in the very back. What do you think you’re doing?” He demanded with a shaky voice as Raye grit his teeth, reaching for his gun. “Don’t mess with me. How long have you been hiding back there?” He continued to cry out, stumbling further back down the bus aisle.  
A realization came to the shinigami who found himself on the other end of a gun. “What's this? You are talking to me?” He started forward with a grin on his lips, “So you mean you can actually see me right now?” Ryuk asked, getting even closer.  
The hijacker shook the gun again, “Stay there, you. You keep away from me, you freak!”  
This isn’t good! He’s hallucinating. The worst possible outcome to the agent had seemingly come about. “Everyone, get down!” He yelled loudly, all the passengers scrambling to follow his directions. Misa wrapped an arm around Yury's shoulders as they both leaned over, covering their heads.  
”Oh, I get it. That little note that Misa accidentally dropped was actually torn from the pages of the death note itself. Since he tricked this guy into touching the paper, he’s the only other one on the bus who can see me.” The shinigami started to lumber forward towards the hijacker, quite impressed with Misa’s ingenuity. “That’s so smart.”  
“Get away!” The man started to take shots at the Shinigami, each of them melting through his body and rocketing instead into the paneling of the bus.  
“Sorry, pal. I’m a Shinigami, so I’m afraid your bullets aren’t gonna kill me.” The criminal let out a terrified scream as Ryuk continued to talk calmly. The hijacker started to completely unload the gun on the unaffected shinigami. Each bullet slammed into the bus walls with a bang, swimming through Ryuk’s body resistance. People on the bus started to scream, and the back window shattered with a smash. The gun clicked empty, even as the man desperately pulled at the trigger continuously. “Anyone who touches the death note can see me. I have to stay till the death note is finished or I see you die, whichever comes first. And a Shinigami can’t die from being shot. I’ve said all these things at one time or another. Well, she is the top-grade student in the country. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” The shinigami voiced his thoughts loudly to the man as Raye shot up from his seat, using the distraction to run towards the man. “He even used this hijacking as a way to get the guy following him to willingly give up his name,” Ryuk muttered, watching said agent reach out his hands to grab at the hijacker.  
The criminal instead quickly back-peddled, running to the driver, wrapping his arms around the driver's shoulders, seeking respite from the demon that watched him. “Stop the bus! Let me off!” The bus tires squealed as the brakes were jammed down much too quickly. It swerved, crashing one tire up onto the curb as the hijacker fled the ride, tumbling down to his hands and knees. He looked to the side just in time to see a car swerving to avoid the bus slam right into him.  
Everyone went silent in shock, the FBI agent standing at the bus doors. Everyone in the bus could only look out their windows at the blood and gore splattered across the road and the white cars' previously pristine body.  
Misa glanced down at the watch on Yukys wrist, 11:45 on the dot. Everything went just as I planned. She remembered her instructions to the note, Kiichiro Osoreda. Accidental death. Boards the 11:31 Spaceland bound bus near the eastern entrance to the park, holding a loaded gun and attempts to hijack the bus. He sees a horrific phantom and empties his gun trying to kill it. Terrified, he flees the bus. Immediately afterward at 11:45, he dies when struck by a car. The death note never fails. Her sharp eyes locked onto Raye who still stood at the busses doors.  
You will be next, Raye Penber.


End file.
